Rapper J Cole says he feels “terrible” after releasing a diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar and has vowed to delete it.
The American musician released the song titled 7 Minute Drill on Friday, in which he branded fellow US rapper Lamar’s latest album “tragic”.
The row began last year after Cole suggested he, Lamar and Drake were the “big three” of the modern rap scene in the song First Person Shooter.
The trio have dominated the genre since the 2010s, with Lamar winning 17 Grammys, Drake five and Cole two.
But Lamar rejected Cole’s suggestion they were equals when he featured on a track called Like That by rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin.
In one verse, Lamar said there was no “big three”, adding: “It’s just me.” He also criticised some of Drake and Cole’s work.
Image: Drake hasn’t directly responded to Lamar’s criticism. Pic: AP
In response, Cole included 7 Minute Drill on his new mix tape Might Delete Later, in which he said Lamar “fell off like The Simpsons”, alongside other insults about his career declining.
But Cole has already promised to delete the track from streaming platforms, telling the crowd at a festival he headlined on Sunday it was “the lamest, goofiest shit” he had ever done.
Speaking at Dreamville Festival, he said he felt pressure to respond after Lamar’s “bazooka” of a verse, but he was “conflicted” because he was “blessed to stand beside” him and Drake.
Cole said he was praying Lamar had not taken offence, adding that if he had, he would take criticism from him “on the chin” before asking for forgiveness from his fans “for the misstep”.
Drake hasn’t responded to Lamar’s insults directly, though he appeared to reference it during a concert shortly after Like That was released.
“I got my head up high, my back straight, I’m feeling 10ft f***ing high,” he told a crowd while on stage.
Police officers found a handgun, a silencer and a red notebook described as a “manifesto” when they arrested Luigi Mangione.
The 27-year-old was arrested in December 2024 and charged with killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione‘s lawyers want to block prosecutors from showing or telling jurors at his eventual trial in Manhattan about statements he allegedly made and items they said police seized from his backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The objects include a 9mm handgun prosecutors say matches the one used in the killing, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a notebook in which they say Mangione described his intent to “wack” a healthcare executive.
Image: Mangione with his attorney. Pic: Reuters
The defence contends the items should be excluded because police did not get a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Prosecutors deny claims Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.
They also want to suppress some statements he made to police, such as allegedly giving a false name, because officers asked him questions before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Last week, Mangione watched surveillance videos of the killing of Mr Thompson, 50, as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
This week’s hearing concerns only the state case, but Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases.
In September, a judge dismissed two terrorism counts against Mangione, finding prosecutors had not presented enough evidence Mangione intended to intimidate health insurance workers or influence government policy.
Trial dates are yet to be set in either the state or federal cases.
Paramount has launched a £108.4bn hostile bid for Warner Bros, challenging Netflix, which had reached a $72bn takeover deal with the company.
Paramount said on Monday that it was going straight to Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of the company, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy WBD, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max
Image: The agreement means Warner Bros Discovery’s library of film and TV successes including Harry Potter and Game Of Thrones will come under the same roof as Stranger Things and Squid Game.
The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.
But Paramount says its deal will pay $30 cash per share, representing $18 billion more in cash than its rivals are offering.
In a statement, Paramount said it was making a “strategically and financially compelling offer to WBD shareholders” and a “superior alternative to the Netflix transaction”.
Image: File pic: iStock
David Ellison, chairman and CEO of Paramount, said: “WBD shareholders deserve an opportunity to consider our superior all-cash offer for their shares in the entire company.
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“Our public offer, which is on the same terms we provided to the Warner Bros. Discovery Board of Directors in private, provides superior value, and a more certain and quicker path to completion.
“We believe the WBD Board of Directors is pursuing an inferior proposal which exposes shareholders to a mix of cash and stock, an uncertain future trading value of the Global Networks linear cable business and a challenging regulatory approval process.
“We are taking our offer directly to shareholders to give them the opportunity to act in their own best interests and maximize the value of their shares.”
Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to WBD in the course of 12 weeks, but that they were never “meaningfully” engaged with.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.