100 Mil'

Album: The Off-Season (2021)
Charted: 14
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Songfacts®:

  • One hundred mil' and I'm still on the grind

    During this joyous track of lighthearted bragging, J. Cole boasts about being at the top of the rap game. However, despite making over 100 million dollars from his music, he continues to work hard at mastering his craft.
  • Cole has historically drawn parallels between rap and basketball, and during the second verse, he compares himself to NBA great LeBron James

    Burst through the ceiling, I'm feeling sublime
    Can't leave the game yet, I feel like LeBron


    Other times that Cole has namechecked James include:

    "Sideline Story" ("But, you'll never play me like LeBron vs. Jordan").

    "Middle Child" ("That's why I can't quit. Just like LeBron").
  • J. Cole was a standout basketball player at his high school and the sport has always been a major part of his music. His early mixtapes The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights, plus debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story, all reference basketball in their titles and artwork.
  • Cole recorded the song for his sixth album, The Off-Season. The record's title refers to the hard grind needed to reach your peak. "The Off-Season represents the many hours and months and years it took to get to top form, he told the basketball magazine Slam. Just like in basketball, what you see him do in the court, that s--t was worked on in the summertime."
  • The song features a contribution from Cole's fellow Dreamville rapper, Bas. He also appears on two other The Off-Season tracks: "Let Go My Hand" and "Hunger on Hillside."
  • Cole and T-Minus' production incorporates a smoothly incorporated sample of Double Exposure's 1978 song "There's Something Missing."

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