Big Sean has revealed that Kendrick Lamar actually “apologized” for dissing him in a leaked song.
The Detroit emcee spoke with Charlemagne Tha God on the latest episode of his Out of Context web show, where the men set out to provide “clarity” on who Sean is. The conversation took several detours before arriving on beef, or the “rumored tension,” to be exact, between himself and Lamar.
It all began when Charlamagne asked about the song “Apologize” from Sean’s upcoming album, Better Me Than U, where he addressed the claim that he only dates singers. Interestingly, Kendrick made the same claim about Sean in the original version of his song “Element,” which leaked in 2019, and then the full song this year.
“I think his false confidence got him inspired/I can’t make them respect you, baby. It’s not my job,” Kendrick spits on the track. “You Finally Famous for who you date, not how you rhyme/Cute a** bars get your subliminals up.”
Charlamagne questioned how he felt when he heard the leaked track, and if he prepared anything for a possible showdown against Dot. Sean revealed that he had a “whole thing prepared” just in case it came to that.
Sean then outlines a timeline of what happened between K. Dot and himself, beginning with his 2016 track, “No More Interviews.” That song found him taking a swipe at people who believe rapping fast equates to lyricism, which fans immediately assumed was based on the Compton artist. He denied that the shots were about Lamar specifically, and expressed they were for general rhyming purposes.
“I definitely was not running from or ducking no type smoke at all. So when I heard that there might be some remnants of something, I did have something prepared, I’m not gonna lie,” he said. “Kendrick has been at my house. Me and him are cool by the way. He’s invited me to his mom’s house before…We were cooler back then, let me say that…I don’t talk to him.”
2017 saw both emcees releasing albums, but Lamar also dropped off “The Heart Part 4,” which some fans surmised was aimed at the Michigan native. So, Sean got on the phone and called Top Dawg for clarity.
“People were like, ‘Oh [Kendrick’s] talking about Big Sean in there, right? So I hit up Top Dawg first, I’m like, ‘Yo, who he talking about?’” Sean added. “I’m thinking we like straight. ‘No, no, no it wasn’t about you.’ The little sh*t I had, I was like, let me get out of my head ’cause I’m thinking it might be something.”
As he continued, Sean detailed how Joe Budden contributed to the narrative that the two rhymers were having a cold war. Charlamagne interjected that Budden wasn’t incorrect in thinking that, to which Sean recalled running into Dave Free, who said that “The Heart Part IV” was “for anyone.” But then the original version of “Element” leaked, which Sean felt some way about, especially after being reassured that there wasn’t an issue.
“I’m like, ‘Damn ni**a, y’all motherf**kers said it wasn’t sh*t and it was something. So you got me looking crazy,’” Sean said, describing hearing the leak for the first time. “The thing is, that song came out and he changed that bar, right? So that wasn’t on the song anymore, it was a leaked verse. So I had to keep that in mind ‘cause I was pissed when I heard it. So then I’m like, ‘Okay, he changed that on his own so he probably came to the conclusion that it was nothing.’”
Big Sean explained that after Nipsey Hussle died, he and Lamar spoke. During that conversation, Lamar “apologized in a sense for going that far, for that sh*t coming out.” In that same interaction, Lamar also told Sean Don that he “appreciated the shout-out” on “Deep Reverence,” the rapper’s track that featured Hussle.
Towards the end of the segment pertaining to Lamar, Charlemagne asked if he was glad he never “got into it with him.” After Big Sean asked why, the radio host asserted that he “did Drake dirty” and that could have been him. Sean laughed and smirked, saying, “I guess we’ll never know.”
Watch the full interview above.
