NEWS
J. Cole has weighed in on the high-profile Drake and Kendrick Lamar feud on his surprise new single, ‘Port Antonio’.
Back in April, Lamar and Drake went head to head in a scathing rap battle after the former called out the Canadian rapper and Cole on Future and Metro Boomin’ ‘Like That’. The ‘No Role Modelz’ star did originally reply with ‘7 Minute Drill’ on the mixtape ‘Might Delete Later’, but retracted the diss track and apologised swiftly after.
On Wednesday (October 9), the LaFayette native surprised fans by dropping ‘Port Antonio’, which samples Lonnie Liston Smith’s ‘A Garden of Peace’ and Cleo Sol‘s ‘Know That You Are Loved’. Cole defended his decision to step back from the conflict on the five-minute track.
He rapped: “I pulled the plug because I seen where that was ’bout to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow / They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke / I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro / I woulda gained a foe.”
He then commented on the savage allegations Drake and Lamar exchanged on their respective diss songs: “Jermaine is no king if that means I gotta dig up dirt and pay the whole team / Of algorithm bot n****s just to sway the whole thing / On social media, competing for your favourable memes to be considered best.”
“I understand the thirst of being first that made ’em both swing / Protecting legacies, so lines got crossed, perhaps regrettably / My friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me,” Cole continued, suggesting both rappers went too far in the feud.
‘Port Antonio’ arrived on the one-year anniversary of ‘First Person Shooter’ – the Drake and Cole collaboration Lamar replied to on ‘Like That’. Cole directly addressed the song: “They say I’m pickin’ sides, aye, don’t you lie on me, my n***a / To start another war / Aye, Drake, you’ll always be my n***a / I ain’t ashamed to say you did a lot for me, my n***a / Fuck all the narratives / Tapping back into your magic pen is what’s imperative.”
“Reminding these folks why we do it / It’s not for beefing, it’s for speaking our thoughts,” Cole said, explaining why hip-hop is important and not just a device to stir up hatred. He added: “Pushing ourselves, reaching the charts / Reaching your minds, deep in your heart / Screaming to find emotions to touch / Somethin’ inside to open you up / Help you cope with the rough times and shit / I’m sending love, ’cause we ain’t promised shit.”
The Drake-Lamar conflict came to a halt this May after the Toronto star dropped ‘The Heart Part 6’, on which he said his team fed Lamar false information and denied allegations of paedophilia lobbied against him on ‘Meet The Grahams’ and ‘Not Like Us’.
‘Not Like Us’ has since become one of Lamar’s most successful songs, landing as his fourth Billboard Number One and breaking the Spotify record for the most streams in one day for a hip-hop song. At his sold-out Juneteenth ‘Pop Out’ concert, Lamar played the song six times – Dr. Dre introduced the song the first time, whispering the opening lyrics, “I see dead people.”
Lamar will headline next year’s Super Bowl Halftime performance. There was a rumour that Drake served Lamar a “cease-and-desist” letter so he couldn’t perform ‘Not Like Us’ at the career-defying gig but the ‘Headlines’ rapper denied the claim.
Recently, a new documentary called Public Enemies: Kendrick vs Drake was green-lit by the UK broadcaster, Channel 4, and will be a “cultural exploration of two of the most influential voices in modern music.” A release date has not been announced, nor has a broadcast plan for the US.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
