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Key Takeaways

Cam’ron’s “Talk With Flee” returned with a very special guest and easily one of the biggest he’s had to date: J. Cole.

Released on March 25, 2026, the episode found the host and North Carolina rapper diving into several major topics, starting with their lawsuit over “Ready ’24.” From there, Cole reflected on signing to JAY-Z’s Roc Nation, the 2024 Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud and everything that came with it, and even the iconic Honda Civic he drove during the “Trunk Sale Tour.”

Longtime Cole fans will also be glad to know the Grammy-winning artist addressed whether he plans to retire after The Fall-Off, along with sharing more insight into his writing process. To make sure you don't miss anything, REVOLT rounded up nine key takeaways from the conversation. Scroll below to check them out!

Be sure to tune into “Talk With Flee” on linear at 10 p.m. ET every Tuesday, plus YouTube and the REVOLT website at 5 p.m. ET every Wednesday.

1. Cam’ron on why he decided to sue J. Cole

First things first, Cam’ron addressed the elephant in the room: his lawsuit against Cole. “I never talked about it. I never said anything about it,” the Harlem rapper said. “I just felt like, ‘Damn, when he called me to do something, he kept kind of brushing me off when I asked for a favor.’”

As some may remember, Cam sued the Dreamville artist in October 2025 for allegedly failing to follow through on a verbal agreement to collaborate after recording the intro for 2021’s The Off-Season and later appearing on “Ready ’24” from Might Delete Later. According to the filing, the understanding was that Cole would return the favor with either a verse or an interview.

In Cam’ron’s telling, when the two finally spoke, Cole told him, “When I write a rhyme, I’m trying to have the best rhyme I’m doing. When I do an interview, it’s because I have something to promote.” That being said, it was still “kind of a long time” from the original timeline the “No Role Modelz” hitmaker gave.

2. J. Cole on why he was “hurt” by Cam’ron filing a lawsuit against him

When asked how he felt about Cam’ron filing a lawsuit against him, Cole admitted, “I ain’t gon’ lie, I was hurt almost, disappointed, ‘cause I got so much respect for you… In my mind, I was like, ‘Nah, Cam, not you.’” He also pointed out that the Dipset alum handled his contributions pretty much right away after being asked: “Cam did two things for me, and he did them b**ches quick.”

3. Cam’ron and J. Cole on the missed deadlines leading up to the lawsuit

A little later, Cole took a second to give Cam’ron credit for staying on him, even while he kept missing the deadlines he set for himself. “Every time I gave you a date, you was on me on that date,” the 2014 Forest Hills Drive rapper said. What Cam may not have realized, though, was just how seriously Cole still took following through on that promise.

“Every time I had you on my mind, like, ‘F**k.’ I’m behind schedule, but somewhere in my thoughts, I’m thinking about you,” he explained. “You didn’t know this, but Ib [Hamad] knew, and everybody on my team knew, ‘Cam, he’s kind of done with me, but he don’t know, as soon as my album drops, I’m coming to see him first ‘cause I told him I’d come to his show.’ That was still my plan.” Then, a few weeks later, news of the lawsuit surfaced.

For his part, Cam’ron said the lawsuit “was never going to go anywhere” and that he mainly needed to get Cole’s attention. “I did feel like I did a couple of things for you like that because I respect your craft and what you do,” he continued. “I’m glad we’re here, bro. That s**t wasn’t never about nothing.”

4. J. Cole on landing his first record deal

With the legal drama behind them, Cam’ron and Cole took the conversation back to the latter’s first record deal, when he became the very first official signee to JAY-Z’s Roc Nation imprint in 2009. As the North Carolina native pointed out, those were “the days when having a deal mattered.”

“I’m the last one of that generation. Me, Kendrick [Lamar], Drake, we [are] the last ones where a deal mattered,” he added. “Nowadays, it’s like, if you do the right online campaign, you can blow without the labels.”

As longtime fans already know, Cole attended St. John’s University in New York in hopes of being closer to the music industry. A few years later, his music made its way into Hov’s hands, thanks in large part to Mark Pitts. “It’s a long story,” the “Lights Please” creator shared.

5. J. Cole on the significance of his iconic Honda Civic

Following the release of The Fall-Off, Cole set out on his “Trunk Sale Tour,” selling physical copies of the album during a cross-country road trip in his old Honda Civic. Of course, the car broke down along the way, though he luckily managed to get it to a mechanic. During their sit-down, Cam’ron asked Cole about the significance of the vehicle.

“That’s the car that I used to get back and forth in college in,” he explained. “The first time we ever sold a physical CD of my own was in that car at North Carolina A&T. So, yeah, I’m sentimental with my possessions, damn near.”

6. J. Cole on his reaction to Kendrick Lamar’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That”

Later in the conversation, Cole was asked how he felt after hearing Kendrick Lamar’s guest verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” where the Compton MC declared, “Motherf**k the Big Three, n**ga, it’s just big me.” Funny enough, word reached the KOD artist a couple of hours before the song even dropped, so he stayed up until midnight to hear it for himself.

Cole said he had two immediate reactions. The first was, “That s**t is hard, you know what I mean? It’s a hard-a** verse, undeniably… He went crazy.” Then came the second: “Not now, n**ga!” He went on to explain how the timing was “inconvenient,” since he had just come off tour with Drake, was getting ready to release Might Delete Later, and had The Fall-Off (a project that was originally supposed to include two Lamar features) nearly completed.

Cole also said the whole situation ended up becoming a blessing in disguise, mostly because he was already “burned the f**k out.” Even so, pretty much everybody around him was telling him he needed to fire back.

7. J. Cole on “7 Minute Drill” and why he decided to apologize to Kendrick Lamar

Speaking on his Lamar diss, “7 Minute Drill,” Cole said there was “no urge or desire to take it to that level.” He added, “There was a fear of, ‘Damn, if I don’t do something, I’ll never be able to put this album out that I’ve been working on for eight years.” So, he and T-Minus got in the booth, made the track, and tacked it onto the end of Might Delete Later.

However, Cole said he knew he’d made a mistake “the second” that it came out. He explained, “You created a divided line where you’re forcing the world to pick a side, and if they f**k with you, they gotta slander him. And they’re taking some of the s**t you said — thinking it's survivable and thinking it’s just some light s**t — they’re taking what you said and they’re giving it gas.”

Realizing that he “misrepresented” himself, the idea to apologize came to Cole an hour or two before he was set to headline Dreamville Fest 2024. “I really feel like this was God. I could tell by how it lifted me and how it took the weight off me,” Cole continued. “That’s when the apology came to my mind.”

8. J. Cole on what he thought about the Drake-Kendrick Lamar beef

Pivoting to Drake and Lamar’s beef more broadly, the lyricist reflected on how quickly the culture split once things escalated. “Right away, the world, it became like politics,” he said during the conversation. “You’re either Democrat or Republican, you’re either Kendrick or you’re Drake, and you’ve got to pick a side. And I felt like the n**ga that was disgusted both ways, damn near.”

He went on to criticize what he saw as a larger effort to chip away at Drake’s legacy. “It’s disgusting how people tried to use that opportunity to either show how they really felt about Drake the whole time or just pile on and tear this dude down and create a narrative as if he’s not great,” Cole claimed. “It was a whole campaign and probably still is ’til this day.”

9. J. Cole on whether he’s considering retirement after releasing ‘The Fall-Off’

Cole’s seventh studio album, The Fall-Off, arrived in February 2026 with the intention of it very well being his last. Naturally, that left a lot of fans wondering whether he’s really thinking about hanging his jersey up. He gave them an answer: “Yes, some days, you know what I mean? And some days, I’m like, ‘Yo, I got an idea.’”

That said, Cole made it clear the album was created with the possibility of it being his final one in mind, not as some absolute promise. He continued, “Let me clear that up, too, so there’s no confusion: I made this album so that if it was my last, I’m cool… If I get inspired in a year or two, five years, 10 years, to do another album, I’m not going to fight the feeling.” He also shared that he was “very inspired” by everything that happened two years earlier, presumably referring to the Drake-Lamar feud.