J. Cole On Kendrick Lamar Collab Album: "We Ain’t Ever Got The Chance"

BYGabriel Bras Nevares10.6K Views
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While they did work on a lot of material together, Cole gave some interesting reasons as to why it hasn't manifested... yet.

During J. Cole's appearance on Lil Yachty and Mitch's A Safe Place podcast, they talked about a lot of stuff. They discussed Cole's first number one hit and how he "almost" regrets it, his features policy, and plenty of other compelling and interesting topics. It's great to hear the North Carolina MC and the Atlanta artist chop it up about life and their careers, and they got to discuss one of 2010s hip-hop's most persistent requests. When addressing his rumored collab album with Kendrick Lamar, the Dreamville boss gave some very interesting and revealing reasons as to why it hasn't happened... and probably won't, unfortunately.

"In a nutshell, [Kendrick Lamar] had pulled up on me at No I.D.’s spot," J. Cole began. "We was already building this relationship, and I had these beats at the time and I was playing them for him. Was that our first time linking? ‘HiiiPoWeR,’ one of them beats? There’s a few beats, a gang of beats that I did, I gave him. Some of them like, maybe had a hook on them, a verse- this, that, and the third.

J. Cole's Full A Safe Place Appearance

"So he took them and, you know, in that moment, we talked about, ‘Yo, bro, we should do a project,’" J. Cole continued. "At that time he’s not on like that, but I’m f***in’ with him. At one point, it was a real thing. But bro, time and life, we ain’t ever got the chance to go in and do it correctly, because that would take time. For us to do something that’s full of our potential, that meets our real potential, you’re gonna need time. At least a year.

“When you got two successful artists with lives and families, that’s hard to do," he concluded. "We put it to bed years ago. But at one point in time, it was a real conversation, for sure. It’s not like it’s a ton of songs. It’s not like it’s some album sitting on the shelf somewhere." For more news and the latest updates on J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar, come back to HNHH.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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