Earlier this month, flyers were passed out at Rolling Loud Festival teasing a collaboration between Young Thug, J. Cole, and Travis Scott titled “The London.” Following a recent YouTube livestream hosted by Thug, the T-Minus-produced track is officially here.
On the track, Cole raps about his recent run of features:
I left a flock of rappers dead and burned
A verse from me is like “11 Birds”
I did the math it’s like 2000 dollars every word
Since last year, Cole has been praised for appearing on songs by a wide array of rappers, including 21 Savage, Offset, Rapsody, Anderson .Paak, 6LACK, and Moneybagg Yo.
Although Cole and Thug haven’t collaborated on a song before, Cole is reportedly serving as the executive producer on Thug’s next album. The Atlanta rapper also opened for Cole on last year’s KOD tour.
During a May 2018 interview with Angie Martinez, Cole praised Thug’s influence on hip-hop.
“If you want to talk about Young Thug as an artist, he’s an innovator,” he said. “If you know skills, and you know the art of rapping, and you know how you put words together, and you know pockets, and you know flows, and you know the things he’s doing with his voice, dude is a genius.”
The track also marks Cole’s first collaboration with Travis. Meanwhile, Thug and Travis have a long history together on songs like “Skyfall,” “Maria I’m Drunk,” and “Pick Up the Phone.”
Thug dropped his On the Rvn EP last year, but hasn’t released a full-length solo project since 2017’s Beautiful Thugger Girls. Thugger has recently been teasing a project titled GØŁDMØÜFDÖG. A press release announcing “The London” promised it will be coming soon:
It seems that “The London” is the first taste of things to come for Thug.
Listen to the song above, and read all the lyrics to Young Thug’s “The London” featuring J. Cole and Travis Scott on Genius now.
