Fat Joe on J. Cole's Kendrick Lamar Apology and His Own Beef With 50 Cent: 'When You Called Out in Hip-Hop, You Gotta Respond'

Fat Joe insinuated that J. Cole tarnished his reputation when he apologized to Kendrick Lamar amid his beef with Drake.

Joe began by reflecting on his own feud with 50 Cent, which dates back to the late '90s.

“I had one of the biggest, most dangerous rap beefs with 50 Cent, and I was sitting next to him at the game yesterday, having the best time in the world,” he told the Jay Shetty Podcast. “We’re brothers. ... When you called out in hip-hop, you gotta respond. And so I’m a big fan of J. Cole, but it started from that.”

He continued, “[Cole] probably saw that it could get real messy and real ugly and so he said, ‘Yo, you know what, this ain’t me I don’t want no parts of it.’ But he definitely got a stripe off his...they took a stripe off of that, because in hip-hop, they call you out, you come out.”

In early April, Cole issued an apology to Kung Fu Kenny during his Dreamville Festival, saying that he felt “lame” and “terrible” for his “7 Minute Drill” diss track.

Other rappers thought Cole was weak for attempting to make amends with Lamar. Fif—who usually has a lot to say—responded on Instagram, writing, “WTF how I miss this, @realcoleworld call my phone right now!”

Kanye West called Cole “pussy,” telling Justin Laboy that the North Carolina rapper “can’t run now.”