Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, returned to X this week, with another series of provocative tweets. In one notable remark, he responded to an X user’s post suggesting that Kendrick Lamar is no match for J. Cole.
“I hate J Cole music so much,” Ye stated. “It’s like between Kendrick and J Cole, I bet you industry plants asked J Cole to diss Drake, then we would have been accosted with a J Cole Super Bowl commercial with no SZA song to save it.”
Ye continued his criticism, stating, “No one listens to J Cole after losing their virginity.” He then referenced a meeting with Drake during the Donda era, claiming, “Most of the convo was me telling him he was hurting hip hop by giving J Cole a platform, and I was saying how much I loved Future.”
Ye says he hates J. Cole:
— No Jumper (@nojumper) April 2, 2025
"No one listens to J Cole after loosing their virginity" pic.twitter.com/Z9yUxjMaSN
Despite his apparent disdain for J. Cole, Ye expressed a complex sentiment towards Drake, admitting, “How I hate Drake and I’m team Drake at the same time. Life is funny like that. It’s the weird thing where I feel closest to Drake out of anybody in rap.”
Ye says he feels closest to Drake out of anybody in rap 👀
— Kurrco (@Kurrco) April 2, 2025
"How I hate Drake and I’m team Drake at the same time Life is funny like that It’s the weird thing where I feel closest to Drake outta any body in rap" pic.twitter.com/vy9hsWhzdn
Regarding the relationship between Kanye West and J. Cole, there is no widely documented evidence of a significant personal feud or falling out between the two artists. However, J. Cole has been critical of Ye in the past, most notably in his 2016 track “False Prophets,” which many interpreted as addressing Kanye’s erratic behavior and artistic decline.
Despite this, Cole has long acknowledged Ye’s profound influence on his career. In his audio series Inevitable, Cole credited Ye with expanding his creative perspective, saying:
“In the summer 2003 before I went to college, the ‘Through The Wire’ video dropped and that sh*t changed my life first of all, and then I became a massive Kanye fan,” Cole explained. “Kanye was the first time I saw myself in somebody… He just made it possible to talk about your life or regular perspectives in a way that’s appealing.”
“This n*gga became my favorite artist, at that point. He kinda cracked my mind open.”
Whether J. Cole will respond remains to be seen.