"Middle Child" (stylized in
all caps
In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...
) is a song by 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 ...
. The song was released on January 23, 2019, through
Dreamville Records
Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas (rapper), B ...
,
Roc Nation
Roc Nation is an entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008. The company is headquartered in Manhattan and has additional offices in Los Angeles and London. Roc Nation comprises a comprehensive talent agency, sports agency, record label, mana ...
and
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
, as the first single from Dreamville's 2019
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
, ''
Revenge of the Dreamers III
''Revenge of the Dreamers III'' is the third compilation album by American record label Dreamville, released on July 5, 2019, by Dreamville and Interscope Records.
''Revenge of the Dreamers III'' includes contributions from Dreamville artists, J. ...
''. The song was written by J. Cole,
T-Minus
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
,
Allan Felder
Allan Wayne Felder (May 26, 1943 – November 7, 1999) was an American songwriter. He had many successes with songs created during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s – frequently collaborating with Norman Harris, Bunny Sigler
Walter "Bunny" Si ...
, &
Norman Harris, and produced by the former two. It was serviced to
rhythmic Rhythmic may refer to:
* Related to rhythm
* Rhythmic contemporary, a radio format
* Rhythmic adult contemporary, a radio format
* Rhythmic gymnastics, a form of gymnastics
* Rhythmic (chart)
The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and ...
and
urban contemporary
Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, hip hop, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contem ...
radio on February 5, 2019. The track contains a sample from "Wake Up to Me", written by Felder and Harris, as performed by
First Choice. On the song, J. Cole explores "his place between the old and new generations of
hip hop, making him the 'middle child' of rap."
Background and release
On January 20, 2019, J. Cole cleared his
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
page, the next day Cole cryptically posted a series of posts with lines from the song. They read: ''I'm Counting My Bullets'', ''I'm Loading My Clips'', ''I'm Writing Down Names'', and ''I'm Making A List'', Cole later deleted the posts. Then, later that same day, Cole announced on social media that he was releasing "Middle Child" on January 23, 2019, at 9:00 PM
EST, and uploaded the cover art which featured the song's title capitalized over a static grey background.
On January 25, 2019, in an interview with ''
Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'', producer
T-Minus
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
revealed that they made the song about two months before the highly promoted
Dreamville recording sessions, which were held the same month "Middle Child" was released. He also spoke about the process he and Cole took making the song:
Production
"Middle Child" was produced by both J. Cole and Canadian hip-hop producer
T-Minus
A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...
. The song includes an exclusive multi-track sample of the horns section from "Wake Up to Me" by '70s Philadelphia trio
First Choice, which was found and cleared through music licensing site
Tracklib
Tracklib is a music service that allows producers to sample original music and clear the samples for official use. The platform was founded with the aim to solve legal and ethical issues surrounding sampling and music clearances. The platform ha ...
br>
ref name=":0"> This allowed them to isolate horns before adding in the drums. In an episode of
Genius (website), Genius' ''Deconstructed'', T-Minus explained he "put some
reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
on
he horn sampleto give it that effect of it being a little bit more airy, a little bit bigger".
Next was the addition of drums to the song, which T-Minus said was reminiscent of ''
KOD'' "'cause a lot of it's very like stuttery kind of
hats
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
, very short but
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
ic". The drums added a variety of sounds, but J. Cole wanted to add an 808 pattern to the song, with the beat going from high to low.
T-Minus noted the 808 for being "really hard" and also incorporated
hi-hats
A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...
to add "more energy to the song when it drops".
The last production detail was including T-Minus' signature "
trippy vibe", which he previously utilized on song like
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...
's "
Swimming Pools (Drank)
"Swimming Pools (Drank)" is a song by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on July 31, 2012 as the lead single (second overall) from his major-label debut studio album ''Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' (2012), by Top Dawg, Aftermath and Inte ...
" and
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
's "
She Will
"She Will" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne featuring Canadian rapper Drake, released as the fourth single from the former's ninth studio album, ''Tha Carter IV''. It was released as a digital download and was added to rhythmic radio stati ...
"—"at the end of the record, we kind of added this effect to make everything kind of sound dark and kind of trippy".
Commercial performance
With only one day of tracking, the song debuted at number 26 on the US
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The following week, the song peaked at number 4, later becoming J. Cole's best performing track and highest-charting song until the release of
My Life My Life may refer to:
Autobiographies
* ''Mein Leben'' (Wagner) (''My Life''), by Richard Wagner, 1870
* ''My Life'' (Clinton autobiography), by Bill Clinton, 2004
* ''My Life'' (Meir autobiography), by Golda Meir, 1973
* ''My Life'' (Mosley a ...
with
21 Savage
Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph (born October 22, 1992), known professionally as 21 Savage, is a rapper based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Born in London, he moved to Atlanta with his mother at age seven. He became known after releasing two m ...
&
Morray
Morae Ebony Ruffin (born September 9, 1992), known professionally as Morray, is an American rapper and singer from Fayetteville, North Carolina. He received widespread recognition in 2020 with his debut single "Quicksand" and released his debut ...
, which peaked at number two. The song also peaked at number 2 on the US
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
chart.
Music video
An accompanying
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for the track was uploaded to Cole's official
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel on February 25, 2019.
Cole announced the video via
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 ...
on February 22, 2019. The video was shot in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and was directed by fellow
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
rapper
Mez, and features cameos from Dreamville artists
Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
,
Omen
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages fr ...
, and
Cozz
Cody Rashad Osagie, (born October 1, 1994), better known by his stage name Cozz, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is signed to J. Cole's label Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. His debut studio album ''Cozz & Effe ...
.
[ The video serves as Mez' first directed video.
In an interview with '']Complex
Complex commonly refers to:
* Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe
** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'', Mez spoke about the creation of the video, he said:
Reviewing the music video, Laura Dzubay of ''The Michigan Daily
''The Michigan Daily'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other stu ...
'' said, "The visuals used in the "MIDDLE CHILD" video are very evocative: Between the lit-up marching band, the covered dead bodies, the stuffed rappers' heads on the mantle and the woman at the end picking a Saran-wrapped head out of a sale freezer at the grocery store, it's almost hard to land on which theme (if any) might be the most significant. What does seem clear is that J. Cole is asserting his readiness to dominate the music scene no matter which direction it takes next." Writing for ''The Fader
''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes.
It is o ...
'', Jordan Darville described the video as "a fun, symbolic, and provocative set of visuals."
Live performances
J. Cole performed "Middle Child" at the 2019 NBA All-Star Game halftime show on February 17, 2019, in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
Remixes
Many remixes have been made, including by rappers Deante' Hitchcock
Deante' Van Hitchcock (born March 10, 1993), is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He initially gained recognition as a rapper following the releases of three mixtapes: ''19 Summers'' (2012), ''Wishful Thinking'' (2015) and ''Good'' (2016 ...
, released on January 28, 2019, Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
, released on March 8, 2019, and Montana of 300
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
, released on March 24, 2019.
Awards and nominations
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Release history
References
External links
*
{{authority control
2019 singles
2019 songs
J. Cole songs
Song recordings produced by J. Cole
Songs written by J. Cole
Songs written by T-Minus (record producer)
Songs written by Allan Felder
Songs written by Norman Harris (musician)
Song recordings produced by T-Minus (record producer)