This is J. Cole’s moment

Shortly before midnight, a text hit my phone.

“It’s late as s— and I’m sure you on dad mode, but I’m pretty sure the Drake response arrives in 10 [minutes],” it read. “[I don’t know] if it’s that or Cole’s album. But I was told Drake recorded something the other day.”

Moments later, J. Cole’s Might Delete Later landed on streaming platforms, and the social media discourse was off to the races. 

To the industry insider’s credit, there was a diss. On the surprise album’s last song, “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole directly aimed at Kendrick Lamar over a Sega Genesis-like backdrop, returning the shots Lamar sent J. Cole and Drake’s way in his fiery verse on “Like That” from Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You. “Like That” became an immediate cultural touchstone with NBA legend LeBron James rapping (mostly) word-for-word during a pregame warmup and on Inside the NBA, not only playing part of the verse on air but also referencing it during Thursday night’s telecast. The record was catapulted to No. 1, resulting in one undeniable reality: At its core, hip-hop is a competitive sport. Claiming to be the best means proving it.

And J. Cole has spent most of the last several years trying to separate himself from the competition. He acknowledged as much on “7 Minute Drill,” claiming Lamar’s time atop rap’s Mount Everest was long in the rearview. “Your first s— was classic, your last s— was tragic / Your second s— put n—-s to sleep, but they gassed it / Your third s— was massive and that was your prime,” J. Cole rapped, an interpolation of Jay-Z calling out Nas’ catalog on the “Takeover.” “I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine / Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead/ How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin’ with me.“

Calling Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly Ambien music — when many critics of J. Cole’s output over the years have said the same about his music — is intentional. Whether he genuinely believes this isn’t the point, or misses the larger target altogether. Lamar’s catalog is his claim to hip-hop immortality. And as talented as J. Cole is, his body of work still trails Lamar’s. But J. Cole knows that aiming at Lamar’s discography while also bringing up the usual talking points about the Compton, California, emcee being boring and taking extended breaks between projects is a means of directing the conversation, however off-base it may be.

J. Cole labeled the record a “warning shot,” and essentially, it’s just that. A few hours after Might Delete Later dropped, rapper Reason of Top Dawg Entertainment (Lamar’s former record label) took to social media, writing, “I hope y’all understand this sport and don’t take it too serious, at least from dot and Cole. This just gon’ be friendly sparring. I’m [excited] to hear both get the s— off with no real issues. Just rap!”

As Reason noted, whatever tension exists between J. Cole and Lamar has yet to cross the line into something more personal. J. Cole confirmed last year that he and Lamar discussed a joint project years ago, but schedules prevented it. It’s two guys who, barring this moment, have been cordial and respectful of the other’s talents dating back to their early mixtape days. Yet, J. Cole can gain considerable ground in his quest to be “the U-N-O” — if he can play his cards correctly in this moment.

“This year was always set up to be huge for Cole. His ‘alleged’ final album, and now he has this beef fall into his lap,” rap historian and documentarian Jeff Rosenthal said. He and his brother Eric Rosenthal created the award-winning podcast, The Blog Era, which focused on the period (roughly 2007-12) when J. Cole, Lamar, Drake and legions more were making their names in music via the internet. “If he really wants to go out on a high note and solidify a generational No. 1 status, he absolutely has a runway to do so. Momentum is on his side.”

Beyond the project’s last song, May Delete Later is a well-rapped body of work housing a swath of sounds and voices from Cam’ron, Ab-Soul, Ari Lennox, Gucci Mane, Young Dro and others. As his annual Dreamville Festival kicks off Saturday and Sunday, J. Cole has all eyes on him. And with marquee names like SZA, 50 Cent and the ever-controversial Nicki Minaj on the lineup, this is J. Cole’s stage.

“Cole’s always been the people’s champ. Drake has owned the top of every chart for the last 15 years and Kendrick has won the hearts of every critic and intellectual. But Cole has built up the most loyal and passionate fan base,” Eric Rosenthal said. “Detractors might say that his earnestness makes him boring, but it’s impossible to argue that he’s attracted fans and collaborators, including Drake and Kendrick, who appreciate the very specific lane Cole owns.”

In the grand scheme of things, J. Cole’s response to Lamar is satisfactory. “7 Minute Drill” will never find itself among the iconic battle records in rap history. But then again, it was never meant to be. J. Cole will perform several cuts from Might Delete Later this weekend before the thousands of fans descending on Raleigh, North Carolina, for the festival, including the one everyone’s talking about — “7 Minute Drill.” And the discussions about where this spat between the two rap heavyweights will lead to will only deepen.

Yet, the elephant in the room continues to grow more unavoidable. Going back to Reason’s tweet, he said this rap battle was just for fun — “at least from dot and Cole.” That one phrase is the textbook definition of “heavy lifting.” J. Cole’s response only intensifies the pressure on Drake — the main target of Lamar’s ire on “Like That” — to respond. Once friends — or cordial associates, if anything— the tension between Drake and Lamar is personal in a way that the lyrical rift between Lamar and J. Cole is not. Drake and Lamar have traded bars over the past decade, with Lamar being far more confrontational. Since “Like That,” Drake’s responses have come in the form of Instagram captions, impromptu on stage TED talks, and over-the-top antics, such as aiming shots at a giant image of Travis Scott’s head during a recent stop on his and J. Cole’s It’s All A Blur — Big As The What? tour.

Drake is as battle-tested as they come. He obliterated Common on “Stay Schemin’ ” in 2012 and publicly defanged Meek Mill in 2015 with the Grammy-nominated diss “Back to Back.” Yet, his 2018 loss — one Drake himself admitted — to Pusha T represents an unhealable scar. Drake’s attitude and musical tone shifted due to Pusha T’s “The Story of Adidon.” The record not only exposed the identity of Drake’s son, but questioned the very existence of Drake as an artist and an idea. Now Drake stands at yet another pivotal moment defined by deep-seeded friction. The last half-decade has seen a far more combative Drake, thanks to that run-in with Pusha T. Now the expectation to lyrically square up Lamar is deafening.

If and when Drake responds, it will be on a massive stage because no other option exists. From “First Person Shooter” on, everything involving these three has played out with the world watching. In some ways, J. Cole didn’t do Drake any favors by releasing “7 Minute Drill” before Drake could get in the booth and drop a diss of his own. But as J. Cole proclaimed on the record, in a way almost agreeing with Lamar: I’m in the front with a comfortable lead.

Much like another one of J. Cole’s passions — basketball — leads in rap vanish almost in the blink of an eye. J. Cole’s been running the score up for years now. But much like another North Carolina native, the opportunity for a dagger 3-pointer, the likes of which his career has never seen, is right in front of him. An album-before-the-album. A high-profile war of words. His own festival. And then The Fall Off, rap’s most anticipated project. It’s set up for 2024 to be J. Cole’s MVP year. Now it’s all about his follow-through.