"Durag Activity" (stylized in

all lowercase Letter case is the distinction between the letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain languages. The writing ...

) is a song by American rappers

Baby Keem Hykeem Jamaal Carter Jr. (born October 22, 2000), known professionally as Baby Keem, is an American rapper and record producer. He initially gained major recognition following the release of his single "Orange Soda", from his second mixtape ''Di ...

and Travis Scott, released on April 30, 2021, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and

PGLang PGLang (stylized as pgLang, an acronym for Program Language) is an American multi-disciplinary creative collective founded by Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free. Launched on March 5, 2020, the collective houses a record label, a production company, a ...

as the lead single from Keem's debut studio album ''

The Melodic Blue ''The Melodic Blue'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer Baby Keem. It was released on September 10, 2021, by PGLang and Columbia Records, with Keem serving as the executive producer. The standard version of the albu ...

'' (2021). The song was written by Keem and Scott alongside producer Brick!.

Background

The song was announced by Baby Keem on April 21, 2021, before it was released in April 30. In May 2021,

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

posted a photo of herself wearing a bandana with "durag activity" in the captions on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. Keem responded with, "...Can I send you a Durag?" and then, "did I humble Madonna?"

Composition

Wongo Okon of

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describes the song as Baby Keem "leading the way with near- mumble raps" before Travis Scott "arrives with his trademark autotune croons". In the song, Baby Keem and Travis Scott talk about "money, influence, and women in their lives", which they describe as "durag activity", over a "clicking, slinking" beat. "Distorted piano chords" can also be heard in the instrumental.

Critical reception

Sophie Caraan of ''Hypebeast'' writes, "The effortless delivery from both Keem and Scott provide a new layer of texture for the bars they drop — which are mostly about getting rich — and almost gives it a new meaning, putting emphasis on the importance fusion of flow, cadence and lyricism." Erika Marie of ''HotNewHipHop'' called the song "laid back" and "slow-burning".

Music video

An accompanying music video was released on April 30, 2021. Directed by Eliel Ford, it depicts Baby Keem as a

mob boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

and opens with him in a suit, rapping his verse while someone in the background is beat up. After "laying hands on an enemy", Keem gets tied to a chair with Travis Scott, but they "reverse the situation".

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Travis Scott 2021 singles 2021 songs Baby Keem songs Columbia Records singles Songs written by Travis Scott Travis Scott songs