J. Cole Reveals That Drake Initially intended To Feature Kendrick Lamar On ‘First Person Shooter’

J. Cole has clarified the rumor regarding Drake’s initial intention to feature both him and Kendrick Lamar on the track “First Person Shooter.”

In an appearance on Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM In Brooklyn podcast, part of his promotional efforts for The Fall-Off, J. Cole revealed that Drake originally sought Kendrick for the song, rather than him. He explained, “I’m not gonna say we were all supposed to be [on the song]. How it came to me was, before that beat ever made it to me, I think Drake wanted that to be a him and [Kendrick] song.”

Cole suggested that Kendrick may have declined Drake’s invitation, stating, “My interpretation is like… maybe when it wasn’t moving fast enough or he wasn’t getting the response he wanted, maybe he was like, ‘Let me hit Cole.’ ‘Cause I think Boi-1da was pushing him like, ‘Bro, you need to hit Cole.’”

He added that he viewed the song as a collaboration between himself and Drake, indicating that he felt pressure to deliver a strong verse. “I thought it was me and Drake. And I just had the beat; there was nothing on it. And I felt mad pressure ’cause I wanted to come through for him. I had to write that verse several times.”

J. Cole also shared his plans for the 2024 Dreamville Festival, where he had intended to bring both Kendrick Lamar and Drake on stage, until their ongoing issues escalated. “Drake was supposed to be at Dreamville Fest. That was planned. He didn’t come. Thank God he didn’t come, though — no disrespect to Drake, I love Drake — but had he come, I would have felt more pressure to be on stage representing that energy,” he noted, referencing his Kendrick diss track “7 Minute Drill,” for which he expressed regret at the festival.

“I was trying to get Kendrick to come, too. That was my plan for Dreamville Fest that year. Mind you, I never got a chance to [ask Kendrick]. I told Drake. Drake knew that that was something that I wanted to happen. When we were on tour I was like, ‘Yo, it’d be crazy if both of y’all came out at Dreamville Fest.’ It’s silly now to say.”

There were speculations that Drake’s non-attendance at the festival stemmed from a disagreement with Cole, but Cole clarified that Drake did not want to place him in a difficult situation onstage. “He could tell, when me and him talked, that my heart wasn’t equivalent to his. So he was like, ‘Yo, I didn’t want to come down there and put you in a situation on that stage and say some stuff that you would have to stand behind,’” Cole said. “And I was like, ‘Thank you!’ Because it left the space for me to [do] what I was supposed to do.”

J. Cole’s role in the ongoing rivalry between Kendrick and Drake has been a significant topic during his recent promotional activities. In an interview with Cam’ron, he admitted that he felt pressured to release “7 Minute Drill” in response to Kendrick’s “Like That” verse, as he did not want it to overshadow his upcoming album, The Fall-Off, slated for release in 2024.

“There wasn’t any disrespect in [Kendrick’s verse]!” Cole commented. “My feeling was, ‘Fuck!’ Because now I know this [album] that I’ve been working on for eight years, plus this other [mixtape, Might Delete Later] that I did as a set-up, n*ggas ain’t gonna never let me put that out until I address this.”

He further noted, “There was no malice in my heart … I [was] like, ‘Let me say just enough to where it looks like I said something.’ Everything I’m saying, I know and he knows, it’s all survivable. I’m not hitting him with no fatal blows.”