T.I. Credits J. Cole for Stepping Out of Kendrick Lamar-Drake Feud: ‘That Was Quite Mature of Him’
But he also feels the two beefing artists ruined things for those “who were planning to drop” music during the battle.
T.I. at the BET Awards 2023 held at Microsoft Theater on June 25, 2023 in Los Angeles.Michael Buckner
While the dust appears to have settled in the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud, other rappers are still providing their takeaways from the massive battle that swept the hip-hop world and permeated pop culture.
T.I. pulled up to Big Boy’s Neighborhood in an episode that dropped May 16, where he broke down the Drake-K. Dot battle as Big Boy peppered him with questions. Tip believes that Cole chose “peace and tranquility” when it comes to bowing out of the feud after dropping “7 Minute Drill” (which he later removed from streaming services following his apology to Lamar at Dreamville Fest).
“You gotta have thick skin,” he said. “You gotta be really unfazed and unbothered. We don’t know the temperament or sensitivity of Cole’s dynamic. We never seen Cole upset, we don’t know where that’ll take him. That was quite mature of him.”
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As far as the jarring allegations made by both sides, T.I. says he doesn’t believe everything he hears. “I just appreciate the skill sets and the presentation — the art,” he explained. “I try to take it all with a grain of salt. All the s–t they saying can’t be true.”
The “What You Know” rapper continued: “It got to be some embellishment or some ambiguous nature in some of this. It can’t all be true, but I just mostly listen for the double entendres, quadruple entendres, and the metaphors and just the skill in which they present they art.”
Kendrick and Drake’s peers might not be as thrilled as fans about the beef, as T.I. believes some may have had their release dates and rollout plans thrown off and pushed back as a result of the feud taking up a ton of oxygen in the rap eco-system over the last month.
“They done kinda f—-d it up for some other who were planning to drop in this period,” he said.
Drake dropped “The Heart Part 6” on May 5, and Kendrick hasn’t replied since, signaling an end to the war. K. Dot’s “Not Like Us” ruled last week’s Billboard Hot 100, while his “Euphoria” diss track came in at No. 3 in its first full week of tracking ahead of Drake’s “Family Matters” (No. 7) in an animosity-filled top 10.
Find T.I.’s full interview below. Talk about the Kendrick-Drake feud begins around the 34-minute mark.
