Lil Durk Says He Waited Two Years for J. Cole Collaboration to Happen: ‘In My Eyes He’s a Legend’

As Lil Durk’s “All My Life” enjoys its fifth week in the top five on the Billboard Hot 100, the Chicago rapper recently sat with Apple Music 1’s Nedeska Alexis to reflect on the success of his J. Cole-assisted hit. 

“I think that the J. Cole feature was definitely unexpected for my fans,” he shared. “He went super crazy. And it’s so crazy, because we’ve been talking for two years. He always be like, ‘Send me a record,’ and I’m like, ‘I got to find the right record.’”

Durk said he waited two years to land the coveted Cole feature, and expressed gratitude for the collaboration. “And I’m glad I waited two years, because in my eyes he’s a legend. So if you have a chance to do a song with legend, do you send him something just to send it, just to say you got one, or you’re going to make it stick? So that’s why I never just sent him a record, because I want something that’s going to stick.”

“All My Life” sits at No. 5 on the Hot 100 and resides on this latest album, Almost Healed. The project debuted at No. 2 earlier in June, earning 125,000 equivalent album units in its opening week. Almost Healed was the third time Durk charted at least 15 records in a week on the Hot 100. He previously accomplished the feat in 2022 with 17 songs on the Hot 100, mainly in part to the success of his Billboard 200 No. 1 album The Voice. 

The Lil Durk episode with Nedeska Alexis drops on Apple Music 1 on Wednesday (June 21).