Last night (October 9), J. Cole unexpectedly unveiled a new song, “Port Antonio.” Notably, it sees the rapper addressing his decision to bow out of the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
On the second verse, he raps in part (per Genius):
“I pulled the plug because I’ve seen where that was ’bout to go
They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow
They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke
I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro
I woulda gained a foe, and all for what? Just to attain some mo’
Props from strangers that don’t got a clue what I been aimin’ for?
Since the age of 14, Jermaine is no king
If that means I gotta dig up dirt and pay the whole team
Of algorithm-bot n****s just to sway the whole thing
On social media, competin’ for your favorable means
To be considered best of live and rest, the weight of both things
I understand the thirst of being first that made ’em both swing
Protecting legacies, so lines got crossed, perhaps regrettably
My friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me.”
Naturally, the track has generated many reactions online, and a lot of people aren’t buying what Cole is selling. One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, “I refuse to let J Cole rewrite history as if he didn’t make 7 Minute Drill and we all didn’t hear how sh*t it sounded.” Another said, “I have no problem with J. Cole bowing out of that beef. You don’t get to come back 4 months later and tell me how you would’ve won though. Shut that up forever!”
Listen to “Port Antonio” above.