J. Cole drops retirement plan after Kendrick Lamar feud
The Dreamville rapper says he will keep making music, reversing a stance he held while navigating a brief 2024 dispute with Kendrick Lamar.
By Michael Bennett ·
J. Cole is no longer retiring from music. In a new conversation released Wednesday, the rapper said he is open to recording more albums, abandoning the idea that his February 2026 record, The Fall-Off, would be his final project.
The shift in direction follows a brief and intense exchange with Kendrick Lamar in 2024. The dispute began in October 2023 when Cole appeared on Drake’s track “First Person Shooter.” Cole rapped that he and Drake were the top two rappers of their generation, a claim Kendrick rejected in March 2024 on the song “Like That.”
Cole responded on April 5, 2024, with “7 Minute Drill,” a track on his surprise project Might Delete Later. The song criticized Kendrick’s consistency and referenced his albums To Pimp a Butterfly and Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. Two days later, at a headlining set for Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cole apologized to the audience. He stated that the track disrupted his peace and did not reflect his true admiration for Lamar.
By April 12, 2024, “7 Minute Drill” was removed from streaming services. Cole stepped back from the public discourse while Drake and Lamar continued their own exchange. In the new interview with GQ, Cole discussed the pressure he felt to react at the time. He described himself as feeling retired and uninspired during that period.
Cole explained that he had already written material about Kendrick for his own album before the feud escalated. This created a difficult position where he felt he had to respond without fully engaging. He told the interviewer, “I got to respond without responding, but still try to save face.” He also acknowledged that he could have leaned more on his mentor and executive, Mark Pitts, to help navigate the situation.
The idea of retiring had been forming for years. In a 2021 interview with SLAM, Cole said he wanted to reach a point where he could stop making albums and feel at peace with his career. He avoided labeling any specific record as his last. He approached The Fall-Off with that potential endpoint in mind, but his perspective changed as he completed the record.
When asked about retirement in the new GQ conversation, Cole said, “No, I’m not using that word at all.” The album released in February 2026 after a long wait. Cole is currently on a world tour for the project. He has not set a date for a new album, but he is keeping the option of future music open.
The full discussion took place in a sit-down with Mark Pitts and Frazier Tharpe for GQ. The segment where Cole addresses the Kendrick Lamar situation and his career plans begins at the 27:58 minute mark.
