J. Cole and Lil Durk’s collaborative song “All My Life” kicked off the rollout of Durk’s new album Almost Healed. The song performed well, peaking at No. 2 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. However, fans found themselves hung up on J. Cole’s reported verse fee to appear on the track.
Music blog Raphouse TV is at the head of the financial rumor. The outlet tweeted, “Lil Durk reportedly paid J. Cole $978K for his ‘All My Life’ verse, counting 489 words Cole spat. Cole reportedly charges $2K per word for the feature.” Based on Cole’s star power in the rap game, the price tag would be justifiable if it were real.
Lil Durk reportedly paid J.Cole $978K for his “All My Life” verse, counting 489 words Cole spat Cole reportedly charges $2K per word for the feature pic.twitter.com/n6cJMNNOwF
— Raphousetv (RHTV) (@raphousetv2) June 5, 2023
After gaining over eight million impressions, Cole’s longtime friend and manager Ibrahim “Ib” Hamad took a second to dispute the claim. According to Hamad, Raphouse TV is false or, as he put it, “Cap.”
— Ibrahim H. (@KingOfQueenz) June 5, 2023
Lil Durk’s team also issued a response to the rumor. “False news, we ain’t never paid for a feature… Ever,” wrote Durk’s DJ Bandz.
False news we ain’t never paid for a feature… Ever! https://t.co/YJpWkAYDKq
— Mufasa (@dj_bandz) June 5, 2023
When asked about the song’s reception, Durk admitted to Complex, “[Cole] smoked my ass on that one, for one — barely. That barely happens. But shout out to J. Cole, shout out to [Dr.] Luke, we made it happen.”