From Florida with Love

Album: Dark Lane Demo Tapes (2020)
Charted: 45
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Songfacts®:

  • Drake recorded this track in Miami, Florida, in December 2017 for his Scorpion album. He never got to use it then, but later included it on his 2020 Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape compilation.
  • On this track, Drake recounts the story of meeting Kobe Bryant for the first time. The seminal moment happened in December 2008 on Lil Wayne's tour bus after he flew Drake out to Houston to open for him on his Tha Carter III tour. The Lakers legend walked onto the bus to pick up his Carter III iPod and Wayne played his "Lollipop" track to the pair.
  • During the next few lines, Drake raps about a diamond chain Wayne gave him and how he lost it half a year later when he was robbed while out on a date in Toronto.

    And you know that lesson stuck
    From that day I never touched the road without a
    Ayy, from that day I never saw the point in talkin' tough


    Speaking to GQ, Drizzy recalled, "I knew it was a setup, because I had on a sweater and a jacket... but when they banged on the car window with a gun and opened the door, the first thing he said was, 'Yo, run that chain.'"

    The lesson Drake took from the incident was to make sure he stays clear of the "negative energy that can sometimes surround the rap world."
  • Kobe Bryant died on January 26, 2020, in a helicopter crash. In the second verse, Drake recounts how it hurts him he'll never get the chance to get together with the NBA star again and recall that special moment.

    We ain't even get to reminiscin' what it was
  • Drake later shouts out YMB, or Young Money Billionaires, which is Lil Wayne's record label. Drake got his musical start with the label and remains loyal to Weezy, who he considers his mentor.
  • The song is Drake's first collaboration with Atlanta beatmaker MexikoDro. The producer is a member of the record producer group BeatPluggz, which is where the Pluggz soundbite comes from.

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