"ATM" (an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for "Addicted To Money") is a single by American rapper

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

, released on April 20, 2018 from his fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' KOD'', and was produced solely by himself. "ATM" was sent to US

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 20, Rhythmic Top 30, Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip-hop and upbeat R&B hit ...

radio on July 31, 2018, as the album's second single. The track debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Composition and samples

The song contains excerpts and samples of "I'll Never Stop Loving You", as written by

Nicholas Brodszky Nicholas "Slug" Brodszky (; April 20, 1905December 24, 1958) was a composer of popular songs for the theatre and for films. Brodszky was born in Odessa, today Ukraine (previously in Russian Empire, 1772–1917), into a Jewish family, who moved t ...

and

Sammy Cahn Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premie ...

, and performed by

Ahmad Jamal Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a NEA Jazz Ma ...

Lyrical interpretation

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, J. Cole revealed the title can be interpreted as an abbreviation for "Addicted to Money" and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

said " neof the addicitons that J. Cole confronts on KOD is humanity's addiction to money, and he tackles it on the song 'ATM', the title of which is pretty self-explanatory."

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "ATM" was released on April 20, 2018, the same day as the release of the album. The video was directed by Cole and Scott Lazer and produced by Jefferis Gray. Cole plays multiple roles in the video, such as wrapped in a black leather straitjacket locked in a room padded with $100 bills. He also loses all his chips at a blackjack table and literally pays an arm and a leg for a used car. He also thanked

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

for his 1998 music video "

Gimme Some More "Gimme Some More" is a song by American rapper Busta Rhymes. It was released as the second single from his third studio album '' Extinction Level Event: The Final World Front'' on October 26, 1998, by Flipmode Entertainment and Elektra Records. ...

" saying "Flipmode is the greatest. Thank you for the inspiration big bro."

Critical reception

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' said "Like spiking the candy bowl with medicine, he adapts the stylistic tics—triplets and trap drums, mostly—of so-called mumble and Soundcloud rappers, many of whom revel in the vices he's denouncing. "ATM" and its

Hype Williams Harold "Hype" Williams (born August 1, 1970) is an American music video and film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Early life Williams was born in Queens. He is of mixed African-American and Honduran descent. He attended Adelphi Univ ...

-styled video is perhaps the best example. Complete with a hyper-repetitive chorus, he satirizes capitalistic greed with the bluster of a club banger." ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' said "ATM" at times feels like a parody of contemporary rappers when his elected flow and content are considered along with each.

Accolades

Its official music video received two nominations for Best Hip-Hop Video and

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

at the

2018 MTV Video Music Awards The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Monday night, August 20, 2018 at 9:00–11:43pm EDT at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City. The 35th annual award show aired live from the venue for the 12th time, t ...

Usage in media

The song was featured in the official 2018 NBA Playoffs commercial for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Chart performance

Upon its first week of release, "ATM" debuted at number six on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song is J. Cole's fourth highest-charting song after " Amari," " Middle Child," and " My Life," respectively. On July 29, 2020, "ATM" was certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for combined sales of one million units in the United States.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2018 songs J. Cole songs Songs written by J. Cole Song recordings produced by J. Cole 2018 singles