Drake to cut autism lyric from J. Cole collaboration

Elysa Gardner | USA TODAY

UPDATE: J. Cole's collaborator, Drake, has announced he'll remove the lyric from the track. "Individuals with autism have brilliant and creative minds, and their gifts should not be disparaged or discounted," he wrote Monday night on his blog. "This was a learning lesson for both of us, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to try to right this wrong. J. Cole and I believe that it is the right, responsible, and respectful decision to remove the lyric from the song."

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J. Cole has issued an apology to members of the autism community for an offensive lyric in Jodeci Freestyle, his collaboration with Drake.

In that song, Cole rapped, "I'm artistic," while others are "autistic, retarded." The words, predictably, drew criticism, compelling him to express regret in a blog post over the weekend.

Cole began the post by conceding "there's a part of me that resents" the pressure put on rappers to apologize when "attacked ... in the media and pressured." But he continued, "this is not the case today. This letter is sincere. This apology IS necessary."

He went on to praise "the entire Autism community" for its "passion ... I have now read stories online from parents about their struggles ... It's touching. It also makes what I said even more embarrassing for me. I feel real shame. You have every right to be angry. To anyone suffering from Autism, either mildly or severely, I'm sorry. I'm bound to make mistakes in my life, but in my heart I just want to spread Love."

Cole added, "I want to educate myself more on Autism, and I'll gladly own my mistake and serve as an example to today's generation that there's nothing cool about mean-spirited comments about someone with Autism."