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J. Cole Disses Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse

Cole goes in on Lamar via Justin Timberlake's "TKO" remix.

It took him a while, but J. Cole has finally responded to Kendrick Lamar's "Control" verse.  

Cole used his guest spot on Justin Timberlake's "TKO" (Black Friday Remix), also featuring A$AP Rocky and Pusha T, to officially go at Lamar and the hype surrounding his bars on Big Sean's record. Young Simba opens JT's re-up spitting bars of fury over the Timbaland-produced single. "I was home alone, next thing I know, that long a-- verse from a song called 'Control' was on/The room got nearer, the tomb got clearer," Cole raps. "That’s when I seen the s--t playin' on your phone/Girl, what is that? A ringtone?/S--t, not you too. Man, that hype done got you too." 

"Control's" reach hit closer to home than we thought, Cole reveals on the next line. "Even my momma asked what I'mma do. Decisions, decisions/In case this is war, then I load up on all ammunition/If a n---a want problems, my trigger's on auto. I’ll make sure that nobody miss him/Now pack up your s--t. You don't believe in me?/I don’t need you, I got me, b---h."

Pusha — also named among Lamar's competition on "Control" — sidesteps the opportunity to lyrically pummel Lamar on "TKO." Cole however, clearly had some pent up frustration over the whole thing, likely because his rap relationship with Lamar pre-dates the TDE rapper's newfound stardom. The North Carolina native is among the producers on Lamar's 2011 Section.80 debut and has collaborated with him in the years since. 

On "Control," K.Dot raps about wanting to musically "murder" Cole, Drake, Pusha, Jay Electronica, Wale and others he sees as competition. The aftermath initially launched tons of reactions from rapper's unnamed on the track, yet virtual silence from those actually called out. 

Drizzy, who previously collaborated with Lamar for "Poetic Justice," seemed disappointed by the treatment. "I don't know if it was worth it," he told Hot 97's Angie Martinez in September. "Because there's a lot of people that were mentioned that I feel like can't really go back and f--k with that guy after that."

Lamar's attempt at lyrical annihilation may have ruined some of his friendships but had an opposite affect on his career by dominating the rap news circuit and being the partial focus of his GQ magazine "Rapper of the Year" feature. 

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 (Photos from left: IconicPix/WENN.com, Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)

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