Kevin Durant Shares His Opinions on J. Cole

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A riot reportedly broke out while Tory Lanez was trying to record new music via video call from prison. In other news:

• Billboard Hot 100 📈

• Kevin Durant shares his thoughts on J. Cole 🚨

• REASON has Drake to thank for his TDE exit 👀

• Industry Insights 🔎

Billboard Hot 100

The above chart shows Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking for this week. The Hot 100 ranks songs based on streaming activity, radio airplay audience impressions, and sales data—all measured by Luminate.

Another one of Kendrick Lamar’s hits, “luther,” has taken the number one spot, knocking his Grammy-award-winning hit “Not Like Us” out of the top spot. Meanwhile, some of Drake’s $exy $ongs hit the top ten this week with “GIMME A HUG” and “NOKIA.”

Kevin Durant is Over Arguing About J. Cole

J. Cole dropped his first single of 2025 on February 20, titled “cLOUDs.” Premiering on his blog, The Algorithm, he told fans he “just wanted to share. made this a few days ago, then I added a second verse and was like, ‘man, I got a blog now; I can put whatever I want up there…’”

Rapping about the effects of drugs and even referencing Trump’s assassination attempt, fans were feeling the new track, including NBA player Kevin Durant. However, when he went to show love online, his simple post turned into a heated debate with pestering fans.

Don’t play with KD

In a since-deleted post on X on February 22, Durant praised Cole World’s newest track, saying he doesn’t “care bout none of that fake tough guy shit. This is mastery.” Some people think "fake tough guy" was a reference and thinly veiled shot at Kendrick Lamar, but it was other fans who got Durant's fingers typing.

Immediately, Drake fans hopped onto Durant’s page to call him out for showing love to the Dreamville rapper. The feisty fans perceived his support as a conflict of interest with his close relationship with Drake (Durant was executive producer for 2023’s Scary Hours 3).

Despite the trolls, the NBA player stood his ground. In response to one comment accusing him of getting permission from Drizzy to show support to J. Cole but only if he shades K. Dot, Durant stated that he is “throwing shade at fans like you, been hatin’ on Cole this whole time…Just listen to the music and stfu.”

Other fans said that “cLOUDs” was a solid track, but it has no playback value, and Cole’s boastful lyrics about taking out other rappers hold no weight because he apologized to Kendrick last year. Nevertheless, Durant stayed on everyone’s head, stating that the song “gets playback in my AirPods, that’s all that matters to me.”

Wrapping up his Twitter spree for the night, he returned to his regularly scheduled programming, calling Drake “THE GOAT” in response to a hater.

You can always count on the NBA player for two things—to clap back at trolls online (failed parlay comments really get him going) and to preach for the 6ix god. Some might say Durant’s more loyal to Drake than any NBA team he’s played for.

How Drake Helped Reason Get Out of TDE

Rapper REASON parted ways with TDE in June 2024 after seven years. Announcing the split on Instagram, he expressed gratitude to label head Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, saying, “It comes with great appreciation and excitement that I want to announce my split with TDE… I want to give a huge thank you to Top himself, not only for giving me a chance to live out my dream but also for hearing me and understanding my decision to travel a different path.”

“There are truly no words for the amount of respect I have for you, and that’ll never change,” he added.

However, REASON was strategic about speeding up the split. In a recent interview with Bootleg Kev, he revealed how he used the Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake beef to force TDE’s hand.

REASON’s comments about Drake now make sense

When the beef first started, REASON felt that Top and the overall label were “dragging their feet a little bit. “However, he still believed that it wasn’t on purpose, “they just had a lot of shit going on. And I knew that if I sparked a fire a little bit, they’d be like, ‘We gotta separate from this,’” he said in the interview. 

“So I started tweeting shit on the side of Drake purposely…there’s fans that hate me for that, and rightfully so.”

Right after Drake’s “Push Ups” diss dropped, REASON saw an opportunity. He posted, “Y’all hatin’ this beat switch up is fire,” before deleting it 10 minutes later. “It went crazy, and I still had the ‘Reason TDE’ [in my handle], so it looked insane,” he said, knowing his plan was working. 

He then doubled down, releasing a freestyle over Drake’s “8 AM in Charlotte” beat for On The Radar.

Even On The Radar hesitated before dropping it. “They hit me like, ‘Yo, we don’t wanna damage your situation. Should we hold it?’ I said, ‘Run it.’ I knew business-wise, it made the most sense for them to separate from me at that point. That shit worked—a month later, I was gone.”

Despite losing some fans for siding with TDE’s opp, REASON hasn’t slowed down. His new project, I Love You Again, drops on February 28, and he continues to speak candidly about his time at TDE. Time will tell if his next album helps mend any fractures in his reputation.

• Abu Dhabi is getting major headliners. PARTNEXTDOOR and Nas are a part of the lineup for this year’s BRED Abu Dhabi Festival in April.

• Cardi B just secured a $1.2 million settlement. From blogger Tasha K, who is also barred from making defamatory comments about Cardi or her family. 

• Big Sean is giving back. He is partnering with the Detroit Pistons to offer ticket packages, with proceeds going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan.