EXCLUSIVE: Trae Tha Truth Says J. Cole Did Not Duck Kendrick Lamar Beef

Trae Tha Truth is pushing back on the narrative that J. Cole attempted to avoid confrontation with Kendrick Lamar amid his rap beef with Drake.

During an exclusive interview with AllHipHop at the 2024 BET Awards, Trae Tha Truth addressed the situation involving the Dreamville MC’s decision to publicly apologize to Lamar after releasing his “7 Minute Drill” diss track from the album Might Delete Later. In his defense of Cole, Trae explained why it was necessary for the North Carolina native to act in the fashion that he did due to his dedication to preserving his character.

“One thing, man, I know he probably wouldn’t want me to say, but I’m going to clarify, I watch blogs and I watch headlines make it as if he [J. Cole] was just trying to get away or duck any type of situation,” Trae said in part. “And that wasn’t the case. What people have to realize is that’s just not the type of energy bro got. You know what I’m saying? He focused on him, he focused on his kids and just always stayed in his lane.

“So everybody wanted to see him rumble and not knowing a lot of us came up together. We partnas, you know I’m saying? So for me, being a real brother to him, you got to respect if somebody like, ‘Man, you know what, bro? I know I’m dope. I’m not questioning myself. I just feel like that’s just not the energy that I’m on.’”

Trae Tha Truth definitely hit the nail on the head with his remarks on the situation, considering Cole previously iterated some of the same sentiments. In fact, Cole claimed the feud gave him sleepless nights and said it didn’t “sit right with my spirit.”

However, since then, many believe he did what he did in order to avoid the lyrical warfare that swiftly went nuclear upon Drake and Kendrick Lamar releasing scathing diss records such as “Family Matters” and “Meet The Grahams.”

Check out the full interview above.