J. Cole shares two unreleased collaborations with Kendrick Lamar.
As the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef heats up again with court actions and a new album, GNX, on the other side, hip-hop fans are wondering if J. Cole is choosing sides. The Dreamville rapper recently launched his “Inevitable” audio series, in which he shared stories and reflected on the highs and lows of his career. In the latest episode of the audio series, Cole shared two unreleased songs he did with Kendrick Lamar.
J. Cole spoke about sending beats to the Compton rapper as the two artists were on the rise, and those linkups resulted in a handful of unreleased songs. Two of the songs that the North Carolina native shared were “Shock The World” and “Temptations,” which were recorded in 2010. BJ The Chicago Kid also has vocals on “Shock The World.” The snippets of the tracks are blowing up on X and TikTok, with fans resharing them.
READ: J. Cole Details How Kanye West Hit ‘Through The Wire’ Changed His Life And Career
“It was early 2010 in L.A. at a U-N-I release party,” Cole recalled meeting Kendrick Lamar. “I remember seeing him on stage and he spit a verse, and I was like, ‘Yo, this n—- right here is nice!’ So he got off stage and I let him know like, ‘Bro, I fuck with you. You hard as fuck.’ He was like, ‘Yo, I met you! I was at the [2010] XXL Freshmen cover shoot [with Jay Rock].”
J. Cole says he and K.Dot stayed in touch while he was in Los Angeles. “When I was out in L.A.,” Cole continues. “He came by No ID‘s studio and I linked with him […] I played him the beat for ‘HiiiPoWeR,’ I played him ‘Temptation’ with my verse on it, I played him a couple of other joints that had one verse on it. When I played them for him, I was like, ‘Bro, you can have these if you want.’ I remember he said — and it always stuck with me ’cause I had never heard nobody say this to me before — he was looking at me like, ‘N—-, are you sure you want to give me these?'”
The “All My Life” rapper shared what Kendrick Lamar told him that stuck with him over the years. “He was like, ‘Bro, you sleeping on yourself,’” he said. “It struck me because it was actually the stone cold truth of my reality at that time.”
Temptations & Shock the World ?? pic.twitter.com/Wxb7vJ3JCM
— sinneD ? (@dennis_k_g) November 26, 2024
It remains unclear if J. Cole will release the two songs officially on streaming services. However, he recently released his classic mixtape “The Warm Up” on DSPs for the first time. It’s also unclear the current status of his relationship with K.Dot after a brief spat earlier this year. While Cole apologizes for his “7 Minute Drill” diss song, Kendrick has not gone the same route, and the two have not had any public interactions since then.
