J. Cole Admits ‘Feeling of Surpassment’ After Kendrick Released ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,’ Shares More Unreleased Collabs

On the latest episode of his Inevitable podcast, J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim “Ib” Hamad played a couple more unreleased tracks by Cole and Kendrick Lamar while also recalling his immediate reaction to hearing some of Kendrick’s sophomore album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, for the first time.

According to the North Carolina rapper, the pair recorded some of their collaborations when Drake‘s Club Paradise Tour came into town back in 2012. “He came to Fayetteville and we worked on that studio bus for two or three days,” Cole recalled. “Before, I had sent him joints, but this was the first time we actually got to lock in and work on sh—t. And that sh—t was so fun, dawg… It felt like when your cousin would come over to your house.”

Ib played two tracks, both untitled, and one of which was produced by D.C.-based rapper and producer Oddisee, while the other features Cole somewhat borrowing Project Pat‘s unique flow in pockets.

Cole also talked about Dot playing him GKMC songs before it dropped during those same sessions and that he felt pressure after it was released. “When Kendrick’s album dropped, the journey got harder, the mountain got steeper. Because similar to when [So Far Gone] dropped, where it was like, ‘Oh sh—t, there’s another person out there that has the same ambitions as me,’ it happened like that with Kendrick.” Adding, “It was a feeling of surpassment. It was two indicators that told me. His first-week numbers were more than mine. The other thing was we had a show where we were both on the same lineup… and I went before him and he went after me.”

J. Cole first opened the vault on episode four of his “audio series” podcast and played “Shock the World” and “Temptation”, both featuring Lamar.

You can listen to Inevitable here.

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.