J. Cole and Lil Yachty go bar-for-bar on their surprise collaboration “The Secret Recipe.” Released on Thursday (September 28), a video for the single shows the two rappers seated in an empty theater, animatedly reciting their lines.

Cole’s standout performance shows the North Carolina emcee calling out performative activism in the music industry: “I started saying less/I had to stop it/Peeped how they profit off of racial stress/Some activists got so rich, they probably wished we stayed oppressed,” he raps.

He also assumes the title of “the secret recipe” behind the hottest contemporary rappers, even taking shots at YoungBoy Never Broke Again. In May, the New Orleans artist went after Cole on “F*** The Industry Pt 2,” accusing Cole of refusing to collaborate.

THE SECRET RECIPE.www.youtube.com

“N***** makin’ threats and I laugh, that’s ’cause you ain’t a threat /Don’t ask how I feel ’bout no rappers, s###, they okay, I guess,” Cole raps on “The Secret Recipe.” “Incomin’ call, press the button, the one that say accept /He FaceTime to ask for a feature and saw the face of death.”

Also in the verse, Cole jokes about his popularity not overthrowing Drake, who he’s performed with twice this year, at Dreamville Festival and during the It’s All A Blur Tourin Montreal. “I’m on your song, your streams going up, not quite the Drake effect/But don’t complain, b****, take what you get and cut the label check,” he says.

Although Cole hasn’t released a solo album since 2021’s The Off-Season, he’s been on a number of features this year alongside Lil Durk (“All My Life”), Gucci Mane (“There I Go”), Bas (“Passport Bros”), Burna Boy (“Thanks”) and J-Hope (“On the Street”). The Dreamville-produced Creed III soundtrack released in March.