J. Cole’s Claim of Kendrick’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ Being a Sleep-Inducing Album Causes Stir Among Fans

The song’s first verse sees Cole kicking things off with a swiftly questioned dig at The Simpsons‘ (still-in-progress) historical TV run before giving his takes on Kendrick’s catalog, like so:

I came up in the ‘Ville, so I’m good when it’s tension
He still doin’ shows, but fell off like The Simpsons
Your first shit was classic, your last shit was tragic
Your second shit put n***as to sleep, but they gassed it
Your third shit was massive and that was your prime
I was trailin’ right behind and I just now hit mine

While 2011’s Section.80 is technically considered Kendrick’s first studio album, his major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, is alternately pointed to by some fans as the beginning of the Kendrick we know today. Cole is taking the latter interpretation in “7 Minute Drill,” meaning his “put n***as to sleep” argument is referencing the universally acclaimed To Pimp a Butterfly, released in 2015. 

As expected, people had (a whole hell of) a lot to say about Cole’s sleepy claims. In short, while plenty of listeners rocked with some of what Cole offered up on his diss track, the playful narcoleptic assessment was a bridge too far.

See for yourself: