Mal says Drake and Kendrick Lamar had 2 features each on J. Cole's 'The Fall Off' which is why the album never released

Jamil "Mal" Clay, one-half of the New Rory & MAL Podcast, recently claimed that Kendrick Lamar and Drake had two features each on J.Cole's upcoming album, The Fall Off, suggesting that the album was never released as a result of the Drake-Lamar 2024 beef. For those uninformed, J. Cole has been teasing his upcoming album for over a year, but has yet to provide an exact release date for the project.

Notably, Cole was involved in the early stages of the 2024 rap beef that dominated the music industry and was the first to diss Kendrick Lamar back after the Compton rapper took shots at Drake and Cole on Like That in March 2024. However, he later walked back his diss and apologized to Lamar.

During the December 29 episode of their podcast, Rory and Mal discussed J. Cole's impending album. Mal claimed that the delay was due to the rapper removing Drake and Kendrick Lamar's supposed features and reworking the songs.

“Yes, Kendrick was on the album, and Drake was on the album. Well, was, which is why we didn’t get the album, cause now he gotta do his whole album over,” he said.

Rory disagreed with that notion and claimed that Cole didn't redo the entire album because the features were removed. However, Mal pushed back and said he knew for a fact that both Drake and Kendrick Lamar had two songs each on J. Cole's album, claiming that all four songs had to be taken off the album following the Drake-Lamar 2024 beef.

When Rory asked Mal whether he believed Cole had to remove Lamar's supposed features, Mal replied, "Absolutely." He further added that there was no way the Compton rapper cleared his verses for J. Cole, adding that he "don't f**k with" the other rapper like that after what Cole did.

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Exploring J.Cole's involvement in Kendrick Lamar and Drake's 2024 rap beef

In 2023, J. Cole was featured on Drake's song First Person Shooter from his album, For All the Dogs, where he rapped about himself, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar being the "big three" of the rap industry. Lamar seemingly took this as a slight and responded with a fiery verse on the March 2024 song Like That, accusing the rappers of sneak dissing.

"F**k sneak dissin', first-person shooter, I hope they came with three switches/ I crash out like, "F**k rap," diss Melle Mel if I had to/ Got 2TEEZ with me, I'm snatchin' chains and burnin' tattoos, it's up/ Lost too many soldiers not to play it safe/ If he walk around with that stick, it ain't André 3K/ Think I won't drop the location? I still got PTSD/ Motherf**k the big three, n***a, it's just big me," Lamar rapped.

In April 2024, J. Cole released a mixtape titled Might Delete Later, which included his response to Lamar via the track 7 Minute Drill. Cole claimed that Lamar "fell off like The Simpsons," calling his album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers "tragic."

He also seemingly referenced Lamar's hit song HUMBLE, indicating that while he may have been cordial with the rapper in the past, when "push come to shove, on this mic, I will humble him." In the song's outro, J. Cole also mentioned that his album, The Fall Off, was on the way.

However, just days after the song's release, J. Cole backtracked on his diss and publicly apologized to Kendrick Lamar during his set at the Dreamville Festival in North Carolina. The rapper admitted that he "damn near had a relapse" after releasing the song, saying that he "felt conflicted” and “didn't really feel a way.” Calling it "the lamest s*** I did in my f****** life," Cole added:

"So I felt conflicted ’cause I’m like, bruh I don’t even feel no way. But the world wanna see blood. I don’t know if y’all can feel that, but the world wanna see blood.”

The rapper continued:

"But at the end of the day, when I listen to it and I see the talk, that s**t don't sit right with my spirit. That s**t disrupts my f***ing peace...in the midst of me doing that and trying to find a little angle and downplay this n***a's f***ing catalog and his greatness. How many people think Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest motherfuckers to ever touch a microphone? Dreamville, y'all love Kendrick Lamar, correct? As do I."

In October 2024, J. Cole released a song titled Port Antonio, where he seemingly referenced the beef via the lines:

"They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make their pockets grow/ I wouldn't have lost a battle, I would've lost a bro, I would've gained a foe, and all for what?"

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The 2024 beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar resulted in the rappers releasing explosive tracks targeting each other, including a breakout hit in the form of Lamar's Not Like Us. The song became the focal point of Drake's defamation lawsuit against UMG for allegations of being called a "p*dophile," while Lamar received five Grammy wins for the very same track.

Edited by Juhi Marzia