J. Cole stunned fans and the Hip-Hop community at large after walking back his Kendrick Lamar diss and removing “7 Minute Drill” from streaming platforms.
While many Hip-Hop heads were perplexed over the retraction, some were more understanding. Terrence “Punch” Henderson, the president of Top Dawg Entertainment, where Lamar was signed until he launched his own label in 2022, has weighed in on the latest development. He praised Cole for having the courage to stand by his beliefs.
Punch took to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday (April 8) to defend Cole’s decision.
“Cole is a very genuine guy,” he began. “I respect it. We often give in to external pressures and outside influences and act out of our own character. It’s rare to have enough heart to make the correction. It didn’t align with HIM so he fixed it in the same manner he engaged. Salute.”
Cole is a very genuine guy. I respect it. We often give in to external pressures and outside influences and act out of our own character. It’s rare to have enough heart to make the correction. It didn’t align with HIM so he fixed it in the same manner he engaged. Salute 🙏🏽
— Punch TDE (@iamstillpunch) April 8, 2024
When a commenter replied that “late 30s” is too old to be “giving in to outside pressures,” Punch explained, “The pressure at that position might be a little bit different than most ppl.”
J. Cole revealed his tone shift regarding Kendrick Lamar live onstage at last weekend’s Dreamville Festival. He admitted the diss kept him up at night, referring to it as “the lamest, goofiest s###.”
Meanwhile, before Cole apologized, Punch called out unnamed music industry players for their apparent bias against Kendrick Lamar.
“The current rap climate got me realizing a lot of you music industry [people] are [Kendrick Lamar] haters, lol,” he wrote last week.