J. Cole Addresses Joint Album With Kendrick Lamar: “We Put It To Bed Years Ago”

J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar have been compared to one another since their careers took off over a decade ago, and fans have been begging for a joint album from them ever since. At one point in time, both emcees fueled the rumors of a full collab project, but it officially looks like it won’t ever happen.

During a recent episode of Lil Yachty‘s A Safe Place podcast, Cole World addressed the highly sought-after joint effort. He explained in-depth how he and K. Dot became acquainted, why the LP will never be a reality, and more.

“In a nutshell, [Kendrick Lamar] had pulled up on me at No I.D.’s spot,” the “No Role Modelz” rapper 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.”

He continued, “So he took them and, you know, in that moment, we talked about, ‘Yo, bro, we should do a project.’ At that time he’s not on like that, but I’m f**kin’ 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.”

The Grammy-nominated spitter then concluded by putting the nail in the coffin and explaining that the two stars have busy lives. “When you got two successful artists with lives and families, that’s hard to do. 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,” he ended.

Although the idea of a full album has been put to rest, fans can still cherish the collaborations that still do exist. Back in 2015, the pair traded places by rapping over each other’s beats, with Cole spitting bars over “Alright” and Lamar reworking “A Tale Of 2 Citiez.” Revisit the tracks below.