Since it was announced in 2012, the joint album between Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole has been making the rounds on the internet. But lately, things have been a little elusive and sometimes frustrating for both artists' fans. The collaboration between the two has not produced any official release date since then, leading to some speculation that the much-awaited album might be ultimately canceled.

As such, there may be several reasons for the joint album's delay. Recent news have pointed out that Lamar and Cole's schedule, personal issues and other priorities might be the culprits.

Kendrick Lamar, on his end, is currently embroiled with copyright infringement issues. A suit was filed against Lamar for allegedly copying the music from the 1975 Bill Withers song "Don't You Want To Stay." The song was reportedly sampled in Lamar's "I Do This" without any due permission. He is also being asked to settle $200 million from illegally extracting themes from a poem entitled "Revolutionay Women."

Apart from this, Lamar's hectic schedule could be blameworthy. Lamar is known to have been invited to perform at U.S. President Barack Obama's 55th birthday. Obama has recently confessed about his fondness on Lamar; further revealing that he likes Lamar's music. Obama has previously asked Lamar to grace the White House for its fourth of July celebration.

On the other hand, Fayetteville-raised J. Cole is equally occupied with bustling commitments. Cole is set to open the 21-night Washington State Fair concert series on Sept. 2. Also corroborating to the joint album's cancellation is J.Cole's speculated retirement plan from his career in music. In the artist's upcoming track with DJ Khaled's album, he was quoted in his lyrics, "N***as murkin' each other, in murky water I try and swim/ How the f*ck do I look when I brag to you about some diamond?/ Said all I could say, now I play with thoughts of retirement."