S. Samuel
Young Money rapper Drake has decided to play the back and not engage himself in a battle to find out if he is a better emcee than Roc Nation's J. Cole.
Revealing that he has collaborated with Cole for his Friday Night Lights mixtape, Drake said out-rapping each other is something he will save for later down the road.
“It’s called ‘In the Morning.’ It’s like a record for the girls,” Drake said in an interview about their collaboration. “Me and him will probably have many opportunities to rap, and try and out-rap each other. But it’s not about entertaining the ‘who’s better?’ debate that I’m sure everybody else is engaged in.” (MTV)
In September, Cole credited the buzz he & Drake have separately generated as the reason fans have wanted to witness a rhyme war between them.
“From a fan’s point of view, who are you going to get excited about [to] battle? I feel like that’s why people push the J.Cole/Drake thing so much, ’cause I think we’re probably the first two artists that fans are super excited about. The two that they would like to see go at it. I don’t blame ’em. But it’s just a sign of the times. Rap goes in cycles. I’m not promoting that, but I’m a competitive person in general, so I’m a fan of people throwing jabs and shots. That motivates me.” (VIBE)
Last May, Cole said listeners were hoping the two burgeoning stars would engage in a rap beef.
“I do, but it’s not working, they don’t understand that it’s not working,” he told writer Amaiya Davis in an interview about whether he feels media is targeting them. “I know Drake, we speak or whatever the case is, so that’s not even an issue. It doesn’t really come from the publications, it comes from the people. Like the fans are so eager to see some sh*t like that, they live for sh*t like that, which is cool, I understand where it’s coming from. You can’t just make up a beef man, that’s just not how this thing works.” (Hip Hop DX)
Hip-Hop pioneer DJ Premier recently gave co-signs to Cole and Drake.
“[Drake] brought lyricism back,” he said of the Toronto-native. “For a 22-year-old man, he brought lyricism back. When [Gang Starr‘s] Step In The Arena came out, I was 22-years-old. And I just thought about it, I was like, ‘D*mn, I was a youngster.’ I wasn’t 30, 31. I was 22 and coming with heat. And that’s why I like that he’s bringing stuff back….J. Cole, I like that he’s bringing lyrics back. Everything doesn’t have to be super, over-lyrical, but we do pride ourselves on cats that can spit, because [rap music] was always a competition about who got the dopest rhymes.” (XXL Mag)
Check out a recent Drake interview below:
