It has been only two weeks since Kendrick Lamar’s diss aimed at Drake and J. Cole on Future and Metro Boomin’s “WE DON’T TRUST YOU” album. Lamar had used the song with Future to share his gripes against Drake and Cole and claim his spot as the best rapper in the world.

But Cole surprised the world on the morning of April 5 with a fresh mixtape, “Might Delete Later.” There has been discourse in hip-hop culture for over a decade referring to Lamar, Cole and Drake as the “big 3” in hip-hop.  Cole is here to say he is the best, even if it means overthrowing his buddy Drake and rival Lamar.

“Pricey” is a catchy intro featuring spoken words from legendary Atlanta-based rappers Young Dro and Gucci Mane and singing by Ari Lennox. “Pricey” is the first instance of dissing on the album, mainly Cole saying he is the best. Cole is not as good at providing introspective lyrics about social issues, so it is hard to expect him to do the same when trying to hurt someone’s feelings.

In one lyric, he makes a very hypocritical line: “Rappin’ tough, but all them n—as in your audience is b—-es and white boys mostly.” It is hilarious to come at Lamar for having white fans when Cole and Lamar’s fanbase are identical since they are in the same style of hip-hop. I enjoy it when Cole is calm and stays in his lane. I am not used to Cole being in drama, and I think he would be more likable if he acknowledged that his music is not as captivating as he claims. Why are you calling yourself “2Pac’s twin” on “Huntin Wabbitz?” You are not 2Pac, man.

“Ready ’24” uses a classic interpolation of “I’m Ready” by the Diplomats, of which the featured artist, Cam’ron, is a member. I wish the mixing on Cam’s voice was more polished, as it feels like he recorded this in a shoebox. I can give Cole credit for this lyric. It was a solid flex, even though he is still rich: “I just pulled your b—h with no line-up and Crocs.”

“HYB” and “Fever” are two of the corniest songs on the album. “HYB” features Bas and Central Cee, with Bas providing a mediocre and badly sung chorus, and Central Cee adds absolutely nothing. Then, Cole puts out some mumbo-jumbo and recites the alphabet to skip over L, saying he never can take one.

“Fever” is just a carbon copy of a Drake love song. He even puts a voicemail of a woman like Drake has done time and time again. As I listen to this, I imagine myself being the one fish on that one SpongeBob episode who said, “Oh brother, this guy stinks” to Squidward.

I feel obligated to mention “Pi,” featuring Daylyt and Ab-Soul, skipping over every other song outside the outro. Cole has an unfortunate lyric where he talks about an internet gangster and compares it to trans men who have not received bottom surgery, basically calling and saying they all have vaginas. Outside of the blatant transphobia, it is just disappointing to hear a rapper remark that on a song that is completely away from the subject matter.

People also like to poke at the moment Lamar said the F-slur on “Auntie Diaries,” and while I agree he should not have said the word, at least the context of reconnecting with his transgender aunt and the hypocrisy of the Black community being so spiteful to the LGBTQ+ community when they were mistreated for years, as well. I am not surprised that Daylyt is on this since he has said things about the LGBTQ+ community in his career.

Finally, the main event is the true Kendrick Lamar diss, “7 Minute Drill.” Cole asserts himself as the best rapper alive and critiques Lamar’s previous albums and inconsistent releasing times since Lamar only dropped four albums in 12 years. Saying that Lamar fell off and is trying to get attention from Cole’s name is ridiculous. Cole proceeds to talk tough, act “nonchalant” about the situation, and say that he is the best rapper over Kendrick.

No matter what opinion you have on the matter, while this rap beef is fun and brings us artists putting in their best effort to drop their most impressive bodies of work, it ultimately breaks down the integrity of hip-hop, making it worse for the genre in a time where we need to uplift one another and show love.