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“Motiv8” — read “Motivate” — is about the motivation to get money. “Get money” happens to be the catchphrase of the song, repeated in the chorus as well as sampled from the Junior M.A.F.I.A. song “Get Money” from 1995.

As the sixth track from J. Cole’s album, KOD, it comes as the beginning of the turning point away from J. Cole’s alter-ego, King Overdosed. It’s easily the most zany, drugged out song on the album. This was done on purpose to represent the “peak” of being high. After this track, Cole begins to “come down” with more chilled out, lo-fi beats that involve introspective on why he and others resort to drugs to solve problems. This is his sober self, trying to come up with solutions to his life’s problems other than drugs.

The song was first heard at Cole’s April 16th, 2018 listening party and posted to YouTube later that night.

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Although no cell phones were allowed in J. Cole’s April 16th, 2018 listening party, one fan managed to sneak one in and posted the audio to the title track for Cole’s 2018 project KOD.

On the track itself, Cole flexes towards the audience and his competition on the first verse, whilst simultaneously addressing comments about features on his album. The second verse and the chorus of the song elaborate more about Cole’s youth and the drugs that his surroundings got him involved in.

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KOD is J. Cole’s fifth studio album. The 12-track album serves as a follow up to his December 2016 album, 4 Your Eyez Only.

Prior to release, Cole hosted two exclusive listening events where he played the album in full. According to Chris Uño, who was in attendance at J. Cole’s surprise listening party at New York’s Gramercy Theatre, the title “KOD” can be interpreted in three different ways:

  • Kids on Drugs
  • King OverDosed
  • Kill Our Demons

The album’s release date, April 20, 2018, may be a reference to the “420” code in cannabis culture, which includes smoking at 4:20 p.m. on April 20th (4/20). The album’s cover art, the title’s meanings, and the frequent mention of drug use in lyrics of songs support this notion.

Chris Uño also reported that the album was recorded in the span of two weeks, and contains no features, making it his third album in a row to not contain guest features. This report turned out to be somewhat true. The album’s only listed feature is kiLL edward, who turned out to actually be J. Cole, pitched down.

Cole’s brother, Zach, revealed that, growing up, their ex-stepfather’s name was Edward. Cole’s alter ego, “kiLL edward,” may be an allusion to the abuse that their stepfather inflicted upon their mother.

In Window Pain (Outro) Cole raps:

All I wanna do is kill the man that made my momma cry

Following the listening party, Cole took to Twitter to announce the album. The album art and tracklist were revealed on April 18th, two days before the album released.

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Covers are songs in which an artist performs the lyrics to another artist’s song, whether over new production or the original song’s instrumental.

Unofficial covers are generally only released on non-paid streaming services such as SoundCloud or YouTube, whereas official covers have clearance from both parties and appear on services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Examples of unofficial covers:
- Seventh & Alo – “God’s Plan” (covers Drake’s “God’s Plan”)
- Alessia Cara – “Love Yourself (Cover)” (covers Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself”)

Examples of official covers:
- Whitney Houston – “I Will Always Love You” (covers Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”)
- Daniel Caesar – “Streetcar” (covers Kanye West’s “Street Lights”)

The credits for unofficially released covers should always omit the original artists.

Covers should also credit the original song through the “Cover” field listed in the Song Relationships section.

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Remixes are re-workings of a song that typically contain new instrumentation, vocals, or in some cases a combination of both. In hip-hop specifically, an instance where an artist performs an entirely new song over someone else’s instrumental can be classified as a remix.

Unofficial remixes are generally only released on non-paid streaming services such as SoundCloud or YouTube, whereas official remixes have clearance from both parties and appear on services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Examples of unofficial remixes:
- Tyler, The Creator’s “Ziploc” (remixes JAY-Z’s “4:44”)
- Joey Bada$$ & XXXTENTACION’s “King’s Dead (Freestyle)” (remixes Jay Rock’s “King’s Dead”)

Examples of official remixes:
- Big Shaq – “Man’s Not Hot” (remixes 67’s “Let’s Lurk”)
- Dua Lipa – “New Rules (Alison Wonderland Remix)” (remixes Dua Lipa’s “New Rules”)

The credits for unofficially released remixes should always omit the original artists.

Remixes should also credit the original song through the “Remix” field listed in the Song Relationships section.

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Scorpion is Canadian rapper Drake’s fifth solo studio album. With a whopping total of 25 songs, it is a double-sided project; the first side is solely dedicated to rap whilst the other incorporates more of an R&B style.

It is possible that Drake leaked the album’s title in an October 2017 Instagram post in which the caption was a sole scorpion emoji, although the official teaser was released through an Instagram post on April 16, 2018.

On June 13, 2018, the album cover and the release date was officially teased via Drake’s Instagram post.

Billboards were placed all over Drake’s hometown of Toronto, Ontario promoting this album in June 2018. The advertisements also teased that Scorpion would be a double-sided project.

On June 28, 2018—only a few hours before the release of the album, Drake announced the official tracklist via Instagram.

Along with the release of the album, Drake posted a message on Apple Music under the EDITORS' NOTES section:

I HATE WHEN DRAKE RAPS
DRAKE SINGS TOO MUCH
DRAKE IS A POP ARTIST
DRAKE DOESN’T EVEN WRITE HIS OWN SONGS
DRAKE TOOK AN L
DRAKE DIDN’T START FROM THE BOTTOM
DRAKE IS FINISHED
I LIKE DRAKE’S OLDER STUFF
DRAKE MAKES MUSIC FOR GIRLS
DRAKE THINKS HE’S JAMAICAN
DRAKE IS AN ACTOR
DRAKE CHANGED
ANYBODY ELSE > DRAKE …
YEAH YEAH WE KNOW

These are common phrases and criticism from people who don’t support Drake. He acknowledges their appearance and hate, but doesn’t think much of it. Therefore, he put the phrases together and used it as a ‘fire back’ against his haters.

The title was likely inspired by Drake’s Zodiac sign, Scorpio. This theory is backed up by another Instagram post featuring a chain with a scorpion on top of a Zodiac circle.

With this album, Drake responds to Pusha-T’s “The Story of Adidon,” admitting that he does in fact have a child with porn star Sophie Brussaux, and with the final track, discusses how he is disappointed with himself for being a single father, something he always told himself that he would never be after his father Dennis left his mother when he was young.

Scorpion is not Drake’s first acknowledgment of his Zodiac sign in his discography. On his 2006 mixtape Room for Improvement, there is a song titled “A Scorpio’s Mind.”

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Hear No Evil is a maxi-single released by Young Thug on April 13, 2018, as an EP requires four songs or more. The maxi-single was not announced until the day it dropped, but rumors of its release had been floating around the whole week, with Thug and Nicki promoting the soon-to-be lead single fro the project, “Anybody,” and posting the number 3 to tease the length of the project.

In a February 2018 interview with Hypebeast, Thug said:

I’ve got a brother who can’t hear or talk, so I want to act deaf for a year. So I ain’t going to put out no music this year.

While Hear No Evil contradicts that statement, the EP honors his unnamed brother through both its title and the sign language video that accompanies the Nicki Minaj-featuring lead single, “Anybody.”

The idea to release a tribute instead of refraining from releasing music may have been inspired by a spokesperson for the National Association of the Deaf. Following Thug’s statement to Hypebeast, the spokesperson told The Blast that it would be “better for Thug to help raise awareness for the deaf community by making his music more accessible to the deaf, rather than not releasing it at all.” The spokesperson also stated that Thug “could make it happen by enlisting deaf people to do American Sign Language renditions of his songs.”

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XantosVibras Lyrics and Tracklist

  1. Voces 2
  2. Josea ft. Lito Kirino
  3. Malas Vibras
  4. Mi Esquema
  5. 26 (Veintiséis)
  6. Metamorfosis
  7. Actriz
  8. Location
  9. Baquiné
  10. Nuevas Posiciones ft. Rey King
  11. Summer
  12. Clásico ft. Kris Floyd, Jota Rosa
  13. La Calma
  14. Tengo Más Tiempo ft. Bebe

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On April 11th, 2018, HipHop-N-More announced that at the end of the month, Future would be releasing a single titled “No Shame” as the lead single to his upcoming project.

Jesse Rutherford, lead singer of The Neighbourhood, was supposed to have a feature on the track too but, reportedly, Future wanted two verses.

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“Guatemala” is the second single released from Swae Lee’s debut solo album, Swaecation, Vol. 1, following “Hurt to Look.” The song shares intentional sonic similarities with French Montana’s “Unforgettable,” which features and was originally written by Swae.

The song premiered on Carl Chery’s #OnRepeat Live radio show on April 11th, 2018.

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