J. Cole Addresses His Apology To Kendrick Lamar On 'Bronx Zoo Freestyle'

It's been nearly two years since J. Cole apologized to Kendrick Lamar during his final Dreamville Fest performance. Now, he's reflecting on how the decision impacted his status in the rap game.

On Tuesday night, January 27, the North Carolina native shared his surprise Birthday Blizzard '26 EP hosted by DJ Clue? He opens the project with "Bronx Zoo Freestyle," in which he mentions the stunning moment.

"I used to be top seed/Apology dropped me way out of the top three," Cole raps at the end of the track. "No problem, I'm probably my best when they doubt me."

“The top ain’t really what I thought it would be," he continues. "So I jumped off and landed back at the bottom and restarted at a level where I wasn’t regarded as much, just to climb past them again and tell them all to keep up."

J. Cole's apology stemmed from his 2024 track "7 Minute Drill." The song appeared at the end of Cole's Might Delete Later mixtape, which arrived shortly after Kendrick Lamar fired some shots at him on Future & Metro Boomin's "Like That." His bars wasn't as vicious as Lamar's was, but it was enough to make Cole take it back and remove the song from the project.

"Y'all love Kendrick Lamar correct," Cole told the crowd at Dreamville Fest in 2024. "As do I. So I just wanna come up here and publicly be like bruh, that was the lamest goofiest s**t, and I say all that to say it made me feel like 10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly. I pray that God will line me back up on my purpose and my path."

Cole's latest EP arrived a week before The Fall-Off is set to drop. Look out for his "final" album on February 6.