"All My Life" is a song by American rapper

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer. He is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). Durk garnered a cult following with the ...

featuring fellow American rapper

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his d ...

. It was released through

Only the Family Only the Family, often abbreviated as OTF, is a rap collective from Chicago, Illinois. The group was formed by rapper Lil Durk in 2010. The group is home to recording artists including the late rapper King Von. Record label The OTF label was p ...

Alamo Records Todd Moscowitz is a music industry executive. He is currently the founder and CEO of Alamo Records and the manager of Gucci Mane. Previously, Moscowitz co-founded 300 Entertainment, served as a co-president and CEO of Warner Bros. Records and ...

, and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

as the lead single from the former's eighth studio album, '' Almost Healed'', on May 12, 2023. it was written alongside

Rocco Did It Again! Rocco Valdes, better known by his stage name Rocco Did It Again!, is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher, and music executive. Beginning his career in 2002, Valdes shares business and creative operations in the hip hop genr ...

Ryan Ogren Ryan Ogren is an American singer, songwriter and record producer signed to Prescription Songs. He began his musical career playing in the band Don't Look Down, and then later Over It and Runner Runner. More recently, Ogren has been writing and ...

LunchMoney Lewis Gamal Kosh Lewis (born January 11, 1988), better known as LunchMoney Lewis, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 2015 single " Bills", which topped the charts in Australia and peaked within t ...

, Theron Thomas of

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, and producer

Dr. Luke Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...

. It features uncredited vocals from the young choir. On October 13, 2023, two remixes of the song were released, respectively with

Burna Boy Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu (born 2 July 1991), known professionally as Burna Boy, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. He rose to stardom in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album, '' L.I ...

and

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; the latter omits J. Cole. The song won

Best Melodic Rap Performance The Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance (awarded as Best Rap/Sung Collaboration until 2017, and Best Rap/Sung Performance from 2018 to 2020) is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and original ...

at the

66th Annual Grammy Awards The 66th Annual Grammy Awards are an upcoming music awards ceremony which recognizes the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year (from October 1, 2022 to September 15, 2023) as determined by the members of National Acad ...

, making it Durk's first Grammy and J. Cole's second.

Background

On April 20, 2023, in an interview with '' XXL'', Durk talked about the song and his collaboration with Cole on it:

Definitely got J. Cole on "All My Life." It's just a rap that's just showing you what I been going through. What I been doing lately. Trying to change how I am.
Dr. Luke Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American record producer and songwriter. His professional music career began in the late-night television sketch comedy ...
produced it. We were just trying to figure out like what's the right person to put on it. 'Cause it's one of those songs where if it's not the right person to do the second verse... I feel like Cole can bring the energy that I'm looking for to it. So, if it wasn't J. Cole, it'd be anye but Ye, he tucked away somewhere.

On the same day that the song was released, Durk was interviewed live by ''

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'', in which he talked about working with Cole, in which he felt that "he smoked my ass on that one, for one — barely" and added that "that barely happens". Exactly ten days before its release, Durk posted a video that Cole took of them while shooting its music video, in which they were accompanied by children singing the chorus, which is what it is on the official version.

Composition and lyrics

"All My Life" sees Durk trade his usual energetic

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style for more introspective production, which was considered a departure from his regular style of music, and contains the vocals of a young choir as he raps about the criticism that he has faced: "I decided I had to finish, but the media called me a menace / I done sat with the mayor and politicians, I'm tryna change the image / You can't blame my past no more, I come from the trenches". He raps about social and community changes as he touches on abusing drugs, paying child support, and children wanting to cause self-harm, speaking on what he has lately been trying to do to help the world change for the better. Cole raps about young rappers dying before they reach a big level of fame in his verse.

Music video

The official music video for "All My Life", directed by Steve Cannon, was released alongside the song on May 12, 2023. It sees Durk and Cole with a choir of children singing the chorus of the song. The two artists stand on a porch and dance in a yard, as well as play catch with some of the children.

Track listing

Digital download and streaming Digital download and streaming – remixes EP

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance 2023 singles 2023 songs Lil Durk songs J. Cole songs Songs written by Lil Durk Songs written by J. Cole Songs written by Ryan Ogren Songs written by LunchMoney Lewis Songs written by Dr. Luke Song recordings produced by Dr. Luke Alamo Records singles Sony Music singles Songs written by Rocco Did It Again!