"J Cole said BULLET DODGED" — Fans imagine Big 3 rapper's reaction as Kendrick Lamar plays Drake diss tracks at Pop Out show

Kendrick Lamar played his diss track, Not Like Us, aimed at Drake, five times at his Los Angeles Pop Out concert on Wednesday (June 19). Following this, netizens are wondering what rapper J Cole's reaction would have been to it.

Kendrick Lamar hosted the show in celebration of the solidarity between the west coast rap fraternity at Los Angeles' Kia Forum. The rapper performed Not Like Us five times after being encouraged by the crowd. The song was released on May 4, 2024, in response to Drizzy's diss track, Family Matters, during their recent ongoing beef.

Cole was initially a part of Drake and Lamar's beef, but eventually dropped out of it. Contemplating Cole's reaction, a fan wrote:

Other users shared multiple reaction videos and gifs, speculating how J Cole "dodged a bullet" by dropping out of Drake and Lamar's beef before it turned nasty. Some shared their speculations:

"J. Cole dodged a nuke." one felt.

"J. Cole probably got survivors guilt" one said.

"Smartest decision of his career Drake ain’t never recovering from this" another added.

"Just deleted that s*it and apologized no need to roll in the mud. 😂" a fan wrote.

"J Cole somewhere on a beach with socks up to his shins and sandals on whispering the entire Kendrick set knowing he made the right choice" another comment read.

"We was all calling J. Cole weak and a sucka but I’m 100% sure he had a peaceful Juneteenth today lmao." another user said.

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J Cole's initial role in Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef, explained

Drake, J. Cole, Waka Flocka Flame and Meek Mill Perform At The Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Kendrick Lamar's beef with Drake and J Cole started in October 2023, when Drizzy released his eighth album, For All The Dogs.

The album included a collaboration with Cole, called First Person Shooter, where the latter suggested that Drake, Kendrick, and he were the current "big three" in the hip-hop world. J Cole's verse went:

"Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot [Lamar]? Is it Aubrey [Drake]? Or me? / We the big three, like we started a league."

Although Lamar did not immediately respond to Cole's claims, he did not take the rapper's claims positively. In March 2024, Lamar hit back at Cole and Drake through a hidden verse in Metro Boomin' and Future's collaborative album, We Don't Trust You.

The album included a track called Like That, which had an uncredited verse by Kendrick Lamar. K Dot took a supposed dig at Cole's claims through his hidden verse, stating that there was "no big three" but just "big me".

“Yeah get up with me, f**k sneak dissing / ‘First Person Shooter,’ I hope they came with three switches/ Motherf*ck the big three, ni**a, it’s just big me.”

He also called Drizzy and Cole's verses "a light pack" and compared his feud with Drake to that of Prince and Michael Jackson, with Lamar being the Prince to Drizzy's MJ.

J Cole responded to Lamar two weeks later through a diss track called 7 Minute Drill, which was a part of his surprise album, Might Delete Later.

J Cole supposedly criticized Lamar's discography in his lyrics, suggesting that his debut was a "classic" but his latest albums are "tragic." He also indicated that he fell off like the popular sitcom, The Simpsons, and is fending for attention. The lyrics went:

"I got a phone call, they say that somebody dissing / You want some attention, it come with extensions/ He still doing shows but fell off like The Simpsons."

The lyrics continued:

"Your third [album] was massive and that was your prime/I was trailing right behind and I just now hit mine."

In his track, Cole indicated that he still had respect for Kendrick. However, he would not hesitate to destroy him if the insults continued. He rapped:

"Push come to shove on this mic I will humble him."

However, J Cole quickly changed his mind about continuing the feud. Before K. Dot responded to his diss track, Cole publicly apologized for releasing his diss track while speaking on stage at the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina on April 7. The rapper said:

"I ain't gonna lie to y'all the past two days felt terrible. I damn near had a relapse".

J Cole called 7 Minutes Drill a "misstep" and the "lamest, goofiest" thing he had recorded. He also admitted that he felt pressured to respond to Lamar's diss track. Since then, Cole has not released any other diss track or participated in the feud.