Big Sean Says Kendrick Lamar Privately Apologized for Leaked ‘Element’ Diss: ‘We Already Talked About It’

The Detroit MC told Charlamagne tha God in a new interview that he and Lamar smoothed things over years ago

Big Sean has revealed that he and Kendrick Lamar cleared the air after the Pulitzer Prize winner dissed him by name on a years-old leaked verse.

Speaking with Charlamagne tha God for a one-on-one discussion on Friday, Aug. 2, before the release of Sean’s new album Better Me Than You, the 36-year-old Detroit MC explained that there’s no ill will between him and Lamar, 37.

During the chat, Sean answered questions about an April 2019 leak of an early version of Lamar’s Damn track “Element.” While the lines were ultimately cut from the song’s final version (released two years earlier), in the full diss, which eventually surfaced online, Lamar rapped: “Big Sean keeps sneak dissing, I let it slide / I think his false confidence got him inspired / I can’t make them respect you, baby, it’s not my job / You’re Finally Famous for who you date, not how you rhyme.”

As Sean now tells Charlamagne, he connected with Lamar about the diss and the two privately buried the hatchet years ago.

“The thing is, that some came out and he changed that bar, right? So that wasn’t on the song anymore, it was a leaked verse,” Sean said. “So I had to keep that in mind because I was pissed when I heard it. So then I’m like, ‘OK, he changed that on his own, so he probably came to the conclusion that it was nothing. So then, me and him talked. And I got the texts in my phone.”

Sean then showed the 2019 text exchange to Charlamagne, and without revealing exactly what Lamar texted him, he added that the fellow MC “in a sense” apologized for his words.

“He apologized in a sense for going that far, for that s— coming out, right… So, if Kendrick apologized for that same leak that I heard prematurely that he didn’t use, it’s like, then it leaks fully later and people hear it and we already discussed it,” Sean said of the song later leaking in full, adding that he himself already addressed it on track “Deep Reverence” featuring the late Nipsey Hussle.

“When that s— leaks people are like, ‘Ah, you heard what he said about you?’ I’m like, ‘N—-, I’m not a clout-chasing-ass n—-, bro. I’m solid and I stand on mine and I’m not bout’ to do something because everyone thinks a certain thing. We already talked about it, I already got an apology for it… That’s what it’s been. I ain’t really have too much communication with him since then,” Sean said, adding that there was “not” any “real smoke” between the two rappers over the “Element” mix up.

Of course, Lamar has already been involved in one particular headline-making — and No. 1 charting — beef this year. As for Sean, however, he’s focused on his album dropping this month, and his latest track “On Up,” which he released in tandem with the new interview.

While the track itself is dedicated to Sean and Jhené Aiko’s son Noah, the video is shot from the perspective of the toddler, whom the pair welcomed in November 2022.