Ab-Soul & J. Cole Smoke Doesn't Exist, Says TDE President

Ab-Soul did not diss J. Cole on his new single, according to TDE President Punch.

In a series of tweets on Monday (October 14), the record label mastermind took time to debunk a fan theory generated in light of Ab-Soul’s latest release “Swerve 1st 2.” Long story short, a conversation was upstarted over lyrics from Soul’s release by listeners who viewed a choice few bars as being shots sent in Cole’s direction. Furthermore, Punch opted to respond directly to a tweet alleging that Soul penned the lyrics as a sort of retaliation against Cole for what has been theorized as a subliminal sneak-diss to Kendrick Lamar via the Dreamville rapper’s recent project Might Delete Later.

Not in reference to the obvious since-deleted Kendrick diss track “7 Minute Drills” but in direct correlation to Cole’s move to add Lamar’s affiliates Daylyt and Soul to the album track “Pi” — which fans suspect contains yet another veiled jab. In a quoted response to the tweet in question, Punch begrudgingly revealed that “Pi” was crafted long before the proverbial warning shot popped off that kicked off the rap beef between Drake and Kendrick, which Cole bowed out of.

“I hate to clear up rumors, I usually let them fester and see how far they go, but ALL verses on ‘Pi’ were recorded long before ‘Like That’,” Punch wrote in his initial tweet.

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He seemingly doubled down in another tweet, laying out his view of how competition in rap works, as opposed to fans’ view of the hierarchy of rappers. The tweet appears to double as an a supporting statement backing his declaration that Soul wasn’t dissing Cole in particular, but more-so, staking his claim amongst the top MC’s in Hip-Hop currently.

“When an emcee is in his or her ‘I’m the best’ bag, they’re usually dissing everyone and no one at the same time,” he wrote. “It’s a part of the motif for most emcees. The lines are usually open-ended and can apply to any other rapper. Unless it’s a specific reference.”

Though Punch’s commentary certainly sheds some much-needed light on the murky conversation surrounding Soul and his release, its understandable why fans have jumped to conclusions about the meaning of the lyrics on the single. Especially when considering Cole’s recent release “Port Of Antonio” which captures him addressing his decision not to engage in a rap beef with Kendrick, despite declaring he still has fire in his pen.

Check out the post above to see the full details of the fan theory and see the lyrics that caused the frenzy in the first place.