"I feel like he acted on emotion probably" — Black Thought praises J. Cole for his 7 Minute Drill apology 

Popularly known as the lead MC of Philadelphia-based hip-hop group The Roots, Black Thought recently made an appearance on the This Week in White Supremacy podcast. Released on May 8, 2024, the podcast episode featured Tariq Trotter aka Black Thought sharing his thoughts on music, future projects, and J. Cole's apology for his track 7 Minute Drill, which reportedly included a reference to Kendrick Lamar.

J. Cole's track was released in response to Kendrick Lamar's Like That. He then expressed regret about his actions during his headlining set at the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina in April 2024 and mentioned that the song was a misstep. He also stated that he wished to get back on his "true path."

Reacting to this on the podcast, Black Thought stated that the artist "set a beautiful example" and said:

“He’s not trying to engage with the b******t. So, I feel like he acted on emotion probably. He did this record and immediately regretted it but already pulled the trigger and was like, ‘How can I now take the high road?’ And I think he set a beautiful example.”

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"I think I scared him off": Black Thought talks about the time J. Cole asked him for a joint album

J. Cole's 7 Minute Drill was created during one of the rapper's seven-minute writing exercises, as per his producer T-Minus, who spoke to Complex about the same. In the diss track, J. Cole took digs at Lamar's height, the number of songs he's released so far, and mentioned that the track was only a "warning shot."

In his public apology at the Dreamville Festival, J. Cole stated:

“I just want to come up here and publicly be like, bruh, that was the lamest, goofiest sh*t. I say all that to say it made me feel like 10 years ago when I was moving incorrectly. And I pray that god will line me back up on my purpose and on my path, I pray that my n**** really didn’t feel no way and if he did, my n****, I got my chin out. Take your best shot, I’ma take that sh*t on the chin boy, do what you do."

He then stated that the last two days "felt terrible" and he hoped he could be forgiven.

"All good. It’s love. And I pray that y’all are like, forgive a n**** for the misstep and I can get back to my true path. Because I ain’t gonna lie to y’all. The past two days felt terrible. It let me know how good I’ve been sleeping for the past 10 years," he added.

Additionally, J. Cole removed 7 Minute Drill from all streaming services.

Black Thought, who is an adjunct instructor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, then shed light on the matter. He mentioned that his students asked him about his views on J. Cole’s apology to Kendrick Lamar and he said:

“Though I hadn’t heard any of the music, I thought it was a beautiful thing. I thought that’s what’s unprecedented.”

During the This Week in White Supremacy podcast, Black Thought also spoke about how J. Cole once reached out to him for a joint album. The Roots lead mentioned that he doesn’t know J. Cole well and that they talked about a possible collaboration at the beginning of 2018.

Black Thought mentioned that he asked J. Cole to send him some music to see what he was thinking about. He then mentioned that the batch of beats J. Cole sent "felt so close to something Roots-centric" and he believed the duo was not "lining up."

The 52-year-old rapper then asked J. Cole to send him a different batch of beats and gave him an explanation for the same. However, Black Thought believes this may have "scared him off."

"So I asked him to do a different batch, I gave him an explanation, and in my explanation I think I scared him off. Maybe some of the trigger words that I was using, like, ‘I want something hard. This beat ain’t aggressive enough'," he said.

Additionally, the rapper also mentioned that J. Cole was on a peaceful journey back then. He shared his perception of J. Cole during the podcast and added:

“He’s been on a trajectory of … self-revelation, investing into his self. I feel like his mind, spirit, body, soul, music, everything, is better for it."

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In his conversation on the This Week in White Supremacy podcast, the rapper said that artists engaging in a rap battle has been common since the 80s. However, he mentioned that what J. Cole did showed "humility, nobility and a sense of elevation" that is not seen often in the world of rap.