J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar album 2016 news: rappers' individual projects may be to blame for delay

Hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar poses backstage during the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, California May 1, 2014.Reuters/ Mario Anzuoni

While the long-rumored Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole album seem to be nowhere in sight, eliciting fears that it was scrapped, the latest reports claim that the collaborative project of the acclaimed rappers is still going to be released.

Lamar and Cole are allegedly having a difficult time getting together to continue their work on the album due to their individual projects taking up their time.

For artists as big and as widely demanded as Lamar and Cole, their schedules are packed. Cole, in fact, is preparing for an upcoming concert next month called "Castle Lite Unlocks J.Cole."

The event, scheduled June 18, will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa and Cole is believed to be spending most of his time rehearsing for the event.

Lamar, on the other hand, is attending to his own projects. He has been helping and collaborating with other artists with their albums.

This seems to be what Top Dawg Entertainment President Dave Free was talking about in an interview with MTV back in January about the two focused on their individual ventures before anything else.

"Everything's a possibility, but [I am going to] say this, too: Kendrick and Cole are in a place in their careers and in their lives where they have to keep going," he said.

"Of course they're two of the biggest rappers out, but they still have to keep grinding. There's so much work that they have to continue to do," Free added.

In the past, it was hinted that their distinct rapping styles made it difficult for Lamar and Cole to come up with songs that both matched their visions.

But their work on the song "Black Friday" definitely showed they can create masterpieces and complement each other's style, so it may simply be a matter of hectic schedules.

Because of this, the Lamar-Cole album may not be here this year and may be released in 2017 instead. The assurance fans have is that even if the two can't seem to find time for it right now, they haven't abandoned the project yet.