Songfacts®:

• "First Person Shooter" is a high-octane track where J. Cole links up with Drake to drop truth bombs about their rap game dominance.
  
  Drake is flexing his success, his lady game, and his industry throne. He boasts he's on a whole other level, comparing himself to the Super Bowl.
  
  J. Cole is all about his rap game clout. He calls out other rappers who try to start beef with him just to ride his coattails.
• Neither artist is shy about comparing themselves to music legends.
  
  When Drake dropped For All The Dogs, he was holding it down in fifth place on Billboard's Most #1 Songs on the Hot 100 list with 12 chart-toppers. Michael Jackson sat one place above him with 13 #1 hits. The OVO leader raps on the outro:
  
  Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what? Beat it, what?
  
  "Beat It" was one of Jackson's most popular songs, topping the Hot 100 in 1983 for three weeks.
  
  J. Cole's bragging rights in the rap game come from his hard-hitting singles, critically acclaimed albums, epic productions and big-selling collabs.
  
  Love when they argue the hardest MC
  Is it K-Dot? Is it Aubrey? Or me?
  We the big three like we started a league, but right now, I feel like Muhammad Ali
  
  Since Cole, Aubrey "Drake" Graham, and Kendrick "K-Dot" Lamar entered the ring in the early 2010s, there's been a common consensus amongst mainstream hip-hop fans that they are the three greatest rappers alive. Cole also compares himself to Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all time, suggesting he is the undisputed champion of rap.
• The song starts off with Drake's 5-year-old son, Adonis, gimmicking a gun before Cole steps into the booth and proclaims:
  
  First-person shooter mode, we turnin' your song to a funeral
  
  First-person shooter is a genre of video game that centers gun-based combat from the first-person point of view. The player typically controls the protagonist's movement and actions using a keyboard and mouse or a game controller. Cole uses the first-person shooter genre as a metaphor for his and Drake's approach to featuring on tracks. They're known for straight-up slaying when they jump on a song, often overshadowing the main act. Drake and Cole's features are so fire, they practically turn the whole track into a funeral procession.
• Vinylz, Boi-1da, Tay Keith, FnZ, Ozan "Oz" Yildirim, and Coleman created the understated yet triumphant instrumentation. All are highly respected producers in the hip-hop industry and have worked with some of the biggest names in the game, including Drake on many previous occasions.
• "First Person Shooter" samples Joe Washington and Wash's 1975 track "Look Me In The Eyes." The sampled portion appears at 1:05 on "Look Me In The Eyes" and plays in the background throughout Drake and Cole's song.
• The song debuted at #1 on the Hot 100. It was Drake's 13th chart-topper (equaling Michael Jackson) and the first of J. Cole's career.
• Brian Baumgartner, who played Kevin Malone in The Office, makes a cameo appearance in the Gibson Hazard-directed music video. We see him playing video games in an office while listening to this song. Meanwhile, Drake and J. Cole battle it out in games of ping-pong and chess.