“No, I’m not using that word at all.” That was J. Cole’s answer when GQ’s Frazier Tharpe brought up retirement, a word that has followed the Dreamville rapper for years and seemed tailor made for The Fall-Off.
Cole sat down with Tharpe alongside his longtime mentor and music executive Mark Pitts, as Billboard reported.
The conversation covered his career, his short lived clash with Kendrick Lamar, and why The Fall-Off no longer has to be his farewell.
The Kendrick portion is where things get candid. Cole revealed he already had Kendrick material planned for his own album when the feud broke open, which left him in an awkward spot. “I got to respond without responding, but still try to save face,” he explained.
He also described himself as “retired, uninspired” during that stretch. Looking back, he admitted he could have leaned on Pitts more and been more open about what he was going through.
For anyone who needs a refresher, this chapter started with Drake’s “First Person Shooter” from For All the Dogs in October 2023.
Cole rapped “We the big three like we started a league,” then put himself at the front of the line with a Muhammad Ali comparison.
Kendrick wasn’t interested in a group photo. On Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” released March 22, 2024, he rejected the shared throne with “it’s just big me,” and his verse referenced “First Person Shooter” directly, turning a long running barbershop debate into a real challenge.
Cole answered on April 5 with “7 Minute Drill,” the closing track on his surprise project Might Delete Later.
He questioned Kendrick’s consistency and went after his catalog, including To Pimp a Butterfly and Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
Two days later, he hit the brakes. During his April 7 headlining set at Dreamville Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina, he apologized to the crowd. “That sh*t don’t sit right with my spirit,” he said, adding, “That sh*t disrupts my f***ing peace.”
He told fans that downplaying Kendrick’s work didn’t reflect his actual admiration for him, praised Lamar’s ability, and said he would accept a response.
By April 12, “7 Minute Drill” was gone from streaming services, and Cole stepped back as the Drake and Kendrick battle kept escalating without him.
The retirement question has its own history, separate from the beef. In a 2021 SLAM interview, Cole said he wanted to reach a point where he could stop making albums and feel at peace with what he’d done, while carefully avoiding naming any project as his last.
He approached The Fall-Off with that possible ending in mind. The album finally arrived in February 2026 after years of anticipation, but Cole says his outlook had already started shifting by the time he wrapped it.
Now The Fall-Off world tour is underway, and Cole hasn’t put a date on another album. The full conversation is out now, with the Kendrick and retirement talk starting around the 27:58 mark, and for the first time in a while, the next move is wide open.
