“Port Antonio” comes as a surprise release from hip-hop artist J. Cole and details a certain big beef in the music industry he wants to bow out of. Let’s dive into the lyrics.
“Port Antonio” could be a song from J. Cole’s upcoming studio album titled ‘The Fall Off.’ The track was released on J. Cole’s Instagram without prior announcements on October 10, 2024. It talks about J. Cole’s humble beginnings and his current command of respect in the hip-hop game. Most notably, however, he also addresses the beefs within the industry which he claims is unnecessary.
In early 2024, a major feud broke out between Kendrick Lamar and Drake which brought us some amazing diss tracks such as “Push Ups,” “Family Matters,” and “The Heart Part 6” from Drake’s camp and “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA,” “Meet The Grahams,” and “Not Like Us” from Lamar’s camp. The beef between Lamar and Drake started with a J. Cole song titled “First Person Shooter” which featured Drake. In the song, J. Cole claims Lamar, Drake, and himself are the top three in the hip-hop game right now, but he feels like the top among the three. Somehow, Kendrick Lamar saw this as an insult against him with Cole and Drake teaming against him.
J. Cole stepped away from the beef that was boiling up among these three after much backlash from his fans and he publicly apologized for what he started. The war between Kendrick and Drake got quite out of hand where Kendrick even accused Drake of being a pedophile and kept criminals on his payroll. In “Port Antonio,” J. Cole gives his postmortem on the beef that caused much stir in the industry.
Listen to “Port Antonio” by J. Cole
J. Cole “Port Antonio” Lyrics Review and Song Meaning
The first verse of the song is dedicated to narrating the story of young Jermaine’s upbringing and the thirst for success that drew him.
Minimum-wage jobs for dinero, but still, my mind was on the zeros
He had to do what he had to do to survive as a young kid on the block. Minimum wage jobs were the only avenue he had to earn some buck but he always knew he was meant for greater things.
Fast-forward to 2024, Jermaine Cole is one of the biggest and most respected artists in the world. Yet, he stays humble and connected to his roots.
In the second verse of the song, things get heavy. Cole says that he has aged like fine wine–getting better as he ages–a condition many artists cannot relate to. But he is the first to admit that his music has matured throughout the ages too.
I learned long ago, you can’t please ’em all, and it hurts trying
This is life advice to all of us. You simply cannot please everyone around you–if you try to do so, you will end up exhausted, lacking personality, and still disappointed. In the end, some people will still be displeased and you would have gained nothing. All you have to do is what pleases and progress yourself. Nothing else matters.
I can see hate in both of your eyes but the third’s blind
In this lyric, Cole could be talking about the hate in the eyes of Kendrick Lamar and Drake since the beef started between them. Both parties held nothing back and went as far as to bring incriminating claims about each other. The third eye could be a reference to the ‘mind’s eye,’ which usually represents a higher form of understanding and conduct. Both artists raged with hate on each other, they were not seeing the damage they were causing.
Cole also seems to imply that both artists kept on fueling the fire because of the profits they were getting out of this attention. The whole world was talking about them and attention = profits these days.
I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro
I woulda gained a foe, and all for what? Just to attain some mo’
J. Cole reflects positively on his move to pull out of the beef before it got quite bad. He didn’t do it out of cowardice, but rather he was not interested in either the monetary gain or gaining a permanent foe in the process. And who actually won the battle? And who decides who won the battle? Random fans on the Internet! Do these artists really crave that sort of validation?
Cole says that he understands the motive for Kendrick and Drake to wage war–to prove who has the most influence. Now their fans go to war for them–relationships break.
My friends went to war, I walked away with all they blood on me
It is quite refreshing to hear J. Cole refer to both Kendrick Lamar and Drake as ‘friends’ even after all this. However, he cannot help but regret his song “First Person Shooter” having kicked off this snowball from the mountain tops. The snowball got massive with every roll down the mountain and got out of control.
Towards the end of the verse, J. Cole sends flowers to Drake, admitting that the Toronto rapper did a lot for Cole’s life. Cole also encourages Drake to continue tapping into his magic pen which has soared him to the top of the music game.
Cole ends the verse with lots of love towards everyone–especially Kendrick Lamar and Drake. What is done is done and those diss tracks will live on forever. But no one’s legacy has to die because of these petty indifferences. Music moves on.
Let us hear what you think about this song in the comments below. Read the complete lyrics to the song on Genius.