J. Cole Seems to Address Apology to Kendrick Lamar in New Freestyle

J. Cole's relationship with Kendrick Lamar went south when Cole appeared to diss -- and later apologize -- to K.Dot back in 2024 ... and it looks like the experience might've made him a stronger person.

Cole appeared to address his past comments in his new track "Bronx Zoo Freestyle" -- released on his freshly dropped mixtape "Birthday Blizzard ’26" on Tuesday.

In case you needed a refresher ... Cole referred to himself, Drake, and Kendrick as the "Big 3" of rap in Drizzy's 2023 track "First Person Shooter." Kendrick responded by rapping "Motherf*** the Big 3" in Metro Boomin and Future's 2024 song "Like That."

As everyone knows, Kendrick started beefing with Drake, too ... and they never patched things up in the ongoing feud.

Cole responded by calling Kendrick's music boring in "7 Minute Drill," released the same year ... but he took it all back during the 2024 Dreamville Festival and called his attempt to diss K.Dot "the lamest s*** I ever did in my f***ing life," Rolling Stone reported at the time.

Cole claimed his apology "dropped me way out of the Top 3" on "Bronx Zoo Freestyle," but insisted he's at his best "when they doubt me."

He said being at the top isn't all it's cracked up to be ... "So I jumped off and landed back at the bottom and restarted at a level where I wasn’t regarded as much / Just to climb past them again and tell them all to keep up."