New York Times

Album: Born Sinner (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The song features Cole's Dreamville colleague Bas on the last verse, whilst 50 Cent lends his talents on the hook. Cole relived his studio session with Fif during a visit to MTV News' RapFix Live: "We're in the day and age where you just send it away and it comes back but I actually recorded with TLC and 50 Cent," he said.

    "He just happened to be L.A. and I had that song," Cole added. "I'd stolen 50 Cent melodies and was humming it on the hook like, 'Man, if 50 do this hook, it'll be so amazing.' And he came through the studio in L.A., so it was crazy."

    "I played him the joint, and when the hook came on, he was like, 'I could tell you was thinking about me when you did the melodies,' so he just sat and filled in the words. I got to literally watch 50 Cent sit there and write. It was wild."
  • This is the 18th track on the deluxe version of Cole's album Born Sinner. The song also featured on the third EP of Cole's Truly Yours mixtape series.
  • The song title refers both to the time Cole spent in New York City and to the newspaper of the same name.
  • Fun Trivia: It takes about 63,000 trees to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of The New York Times.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Graham Nash

Graham NashSongwriter Interviews

Graham Nash tells the stories behind some of his famous songs and photos, and is asked about "yacht rock" for the first time.

Ralph Casale  - Session Pro

Ralph Casale - Session ProSongwriter Interviews

A top New York studio musician, Ralph played guitar on many '60s hits, including "Lightnin' Strikes," "A Lover's Concerto" and "I Am A Rock."

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Corey Hart

Corey HartSongwriter Interviews

The Canadian superstar talks about his sudden rise to fame, and tells the stories behind his hits "Sunglasses At Night," "Boy In The Box" and "Never Surrender."

Incongruent Opening Acts

Incongruent Opening ActsSong Writing

Here's what happens when an opening act is really out of place with the headliner, like when Beastie Boys opened for Madonna.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."