J. Cole Reveals Scrapped Kendrick Lamar Features on 'The Fall Off' Due to Leak
J. Cole disclosed that Kendrick Lamar was originally featured on two tracks from an early version of The Fall Off, but the collaborations were scrapped after a leak.
What could have been...
J. Cole appeared on Cam’ron’s Talk With Flee this week, revealing that Kendrick Lamar was initially slated to feature on two tracks from an earlier iteration of The Fall-Off. However, Cole changed direction after the tracks were leaked.
"I had The Fall-Off finished. I probably had to tweak a couple of mixes,” Cole said. “At that time, I had been working on The Fall-Off, which was done, and by the way, somebody leaked it. I know who leaked it — it’s cool he put it out there. [Kendrick] was on two joints.”
When The Fall-Off was eventually released in February, Kendrick was absent from the double-disc album. It remains unclear whether this was influenced by Cole and Lamar’s brief feud in April 2024, which the Dreamville boss later regretted, apologizing for dissing K. Dot on Might Delete Later closer “7 Minute Drill.”
More details from Cole are expected when the full interview with Cam’ron is released on YouTube on Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET.
Prior to the release of The Fall-Off, J. Cole mentioned feeling creatively revitalized after moving past the Lamar feud, which inspired him to record the second part of the double-disc.
"2 years ago, after the events that still feed the algorithm to this day, I became incredibly re-inspired, and the album slowly blossomed into a double disc as the concept expanded. I felt there should be an additional cover that represented that,” Cole wrote in a February IG post. “Something just as strong as the first, with my face on it, so when I look back in 20 years, I can see an image of who I was at the time I released the project I worked on for so long.”
Previously, Cole and Kendrick collaborated on tracks like “Forbidden Fruit” and Jeezy’s “American Dream.” J. Cole even played a couple of unreleased collaborations with Lamar on his Inevitable audio series in late 2024, though they were recorded around 2010.
In the same interview, Cole also discussed his initial reaction to Kendrick’s explosive verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” in March 2024, which ignited the feud and led to Kendrick calling out Drake and Cole in response to their Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “First Person Shooter.”
“My first reaction is that sh– is hard. It’s a hard a– verse, undeniable,” he said. “The beat crazy, the song is ill. He went crazy. That’s my first reaction because I don’t know what I’m necessarily listening for."
Cole explained how his perspective quickly shifted. “My second reaction is not now, ” he added. “This is inconvenient for me. Right at that time, I had just got off tour with Drake and I had Might Delete Later in the chamber.”
J. Cole then responded to Lamar with “7 Minute Drill,” which he later removed from streaming services and publicly apologized for to Kendrick onstage at his Dreamville Festival in April 2024. This paved the way for Drake and K. Dot to engage in their own battle later that month.
Watch the clip below:
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