A rap beef of epic proportions is brewing among American rapper Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Drake, with warning shots signalled loudly on Future and Metro Boomin’s ‘Like That‘, and fans can’t wait long enough for their responses.

After Lamar’s 2013 ‘Control‘ verse in which he called out rap’s best MCs to compete in the ‘sport of rap’ to claim the top spot, some artistes such as Papoose, Cassidy, and Bizarre, took the bait and produced some worthy diss/response records.

However, Drake’s only response was a complaint during an interview where he stated that he saw Lamar after and was disappointed that he did not exhibit the same energy in-person.

On the other hand, J. Cole sent a soft subliminal follow-up with his feature verse on Justin Timberlake’s TKO, rapping, “Even my momma asked what I’mma do. Decisions, decisions, In case this is war, then I load up on all ammunition-If a ni**a want problems, my trigger’s on auto. I’ll make sure that nobody miss him/Now pack up your sh*t.”

But since then, everything has been seemingly copacetic, where the two even traded beats on their ‘Black Friday‘ track, and J. Cole has used Lamar’s adlib on his Dreamville track,’Under the Sun‘.

The song ‘First Person Shooter‘ was released in November 2023, with J. Cole’s verse mentioning the current “big three” in rap: Lamar, Drake and himself. But Lamar was not happy about it.

Cole’s ‘First Person Shooter‘ verse:

“Love when they argue the hardest MC
Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?
We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali
Huh, yeah, yeah, huh-huh, yeah, Muhammad Ali”

Many found nothing wrong with J. Cole acknowledging Lamar in such a way, especially when he did not give anyone numerical placements. Others found it irksome to have Drake listed in the top three among the likes of Cole or Lamar. To many, an MC who focuses more on making pop hits and utilises ghostwriters should not be in conversation with top rap lists – which is the MC Drake is widely considered.

Drake, too, is cognisant since he has mentioned in several interviews and even on the First Person Shooter track that he will never get his flowers in hip-hop. “Will they ever give me flowers? Well, of course not. They don’t wanna have that talk, ’cause it’s a sore spot”

Seemingly, this is why Lamar took issue, and Cole took all the stray shots since the shout-out occurred in his verse.

Lamar’s ‘Like That‘ verse:

“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, nigga, it’s just big me”

In the meantime, the hip-hop community waits with bated breath for a response from either Drake or J. Cole.