Under The Sun
by J. Cole (featuring DaBaby)

Album: Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019)
Charted: 44
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Songfacts®:

  • The opening track of the Dreamville artists' compilation album Revenge of the Dreamers III, "Under The Sun" starts with a passionate verse by the label's head honcho J. Cole.

    I got a couple of sons, a couple of guns

    Cole is only known to have one son. In defending his two sons against anyone who disrespects him, he seems to be hinting that his wife, Melissa Heholt, is expecting another boy. He later confirms this news on the Revenge of the Dreamers closing track "Sacrifices."

    She gave me the gift of my son, and plus we got one on the way

    The Carolina rapper previously broke the news about his first son on his 2016 album 4 Your Eyez Only.
  • The song also features verses by Cole's fellow Carolina artists Lute and DaBaby. It represents Cole's first collaboration with both rappers.
  • An uncredited Kendrick Lamar pops up on the hook, during which he talks about the desire to make money. He previously discussed the temptation to put accumulating wealth above everything else on his 2012 track "Money Trees."
  • Cole and Lamar have previously appeared together on several tracks, including Jeezy's "American Dream," DJ Khaled's "They Ready," and Cole's own "Forbidden Fruit."
  • So how did Kendrick Lamar end up on the song? According to Dreamville president Ibrahim Hamad, K-Dot originally turned up at the studio just to listen to the album. However, after hearing the project he volunteered to record this song's hook.
  • The song was helmed by in-house Dreamville producer Christo along with Pluss and Nice Rec. Christo told Billboard the story of the song.

    "The integral part of the song is the sample that repeats. I heard that in a room with Pluss, and I knew he could put some dope Southern drums on and make it a good song. Out of nowhere, we got Cole and Lute, and then Da Baby hopped on. I heard the finished version when things were being mixed."

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