‘They wanted blood’ – J. Cole on why he avoided controversy with Kendrick Lamar

American rapper, J. Cole has revealed why he retracted his diss track targeted at his colleague, Kendrick Lamar.

J. Cole had fired back at Lamar on ‘7 Minute Drill,’ saying “he fell off like the Simpsons” after he dissed Cole and Drake on Future and Metro Boomin’s song, ‘Like That,’ which featured him.

Surprisingly, J. Cole paused his set during his performance at the 2024 Dreamville Festival in North Carolina in April to apologise to Lamar.

Explaining his action on his latest single, ‘Port Antonio’, Cole alleged that those promoting the controversy wanted “blood” and publicity to profit from it.

He stated that if he had gone ahead with the beef, it would have created enmity between him and Lamar.

He raps: “I pulled the plug because I saw where that was about to go, they wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make their pockets grow.

“They see the fire in my pen and think I’m dogging smoke. I wouldn’t have lost the battle, dog, I would’ve lost a bro, I would’ve gained a foe, and all for what?”