To say the union of J. Cole and Drake is for the ladies would be a gross understatement. Cole released "In the Morning" via his website DreamVillan on Thursday (November 11), and immediately got such an enormous response from fans that he tweeted the direct download link himself.
"I know y'all gonna shut my site down ... so here's the direct [link]," he tweeted. "J. Cole and @drakkardnoir epic."
Produced by L&X Music, the sultry song opens with a soft piano sample, reminiscent of Luther Vandross' "Superstar/ Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)." The North Carolina MC begins the cut rhyming, "Baby, you summertime fine/ I'll let you get on top/ I'll be the underline, I'm/ Tryna get beside you/ Like the number nine, dime."
Later, rapper/singer Drake joins the cut in a low baritone, spitting, "Baby, you wintertime cold/ The night is still young/ Drink that dinner wine slow/ I'm tryna make those goosebumps on your inner thighs grow/ I'll let you beat me there as far as finish lines go."
"In the Morning" is the first duet from the two MCs, whom many in hip-hop compare because of their success stories. Where Drake was bolstered by his affiliation with Young Money/ Cash Money captain Lil Wayne, Cole is backed by his Roc Nation label head, Jay-Z.
MTV News recently spoke to Drake about the collaboration with Cole.
"It's called 'In the Morning.' It's like a record for the girls," Drake told us in Las Vegas at the final stop of his Light Dreams and Nightmares Tour. "Me and him will probably have many opportunities to rap, and try and out-rap each other," he added. "But it's not about entertaining the 'who's better?' debate that I'm sure everybody else is engaged in."
Cole himself spoke about the ongoing comparisons, but he didn't discuss who was more talented. Instead he weighed in on who stands as his generation's heir apparent, referencing an interview that Drake had given Complex magazine, in which he compared the North Carolina native to Nas, while claiming he might be the new Jay-Z.
"You can't call things like that, that early," Cole told in response in April.
"You can't say I'm Nas because, look, Nas was in the game for 16 years. What if I'm not here next year? What if you're not here next year? I don't think you can say stuff like that this early, but I understand what people are saying. At [Drake's] status right now, he's the most talked-about guy in the game. The Nas comparison is like, 'He gets a little bit beyond the surface,' but I feel like when it comes to those comparisons, it's way too early. And you never know, 10 years from now, I could be Jay."
"In the Morning" is included on J. Cole's Friday Night Lights mixtape, which drops on Friday.
We want to hear what you think of Drake and J. Cole's first collabo! Tell us in the comments!