"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. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...

featuring fellow 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 ...

. It was released through

Only the Family Only the Family, often abbreviated as OTF, is an American hip hop group and a record label from Chicago, Illinois formed in 2010. The group is composed of Chicago-based rappers, which included late King Von and Lil Durk. Record label The OTF lab ...

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, and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

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!,

Ryan Ogren Ryan John Ogren (born 1979 or 1980), also known as Ryan OG, is an American songwriter, record producer and vocal producer signed to Prescription Songs. He began his musical career playing in the band Don't Look Down, and then later Over It 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 R. City, and producer

Dr. Luke Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live ...

. 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 gained recognition in 2012 after releasing "Like to Party", the lead single from his debut studio album '' ...

and

Stray Kids Stray Kids (often abbreviated to SKZ; ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The band consists of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han (musician), Han, Felix (rapper), Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. For un ...

; 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 honored the best recordings, compositions, and artists from October 1, 2022, to September 15, 2023, as chosen by the members of The Recording Academy, on February 4, 2024. In its 21st year at the Crypto.com Arena ...

, 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 Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live ...
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 ''

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 ...

'', 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

drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless b ...

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

{{Navboxes , title = Awards for "All My Life" , titlestyle = background: lightblue , list = {{BET Award for Best Collaboration {{Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance 2023 singles 2023 songs Lil Durk songs J. Cole songs Songs written by Bang Chan Songs written by Changbin 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!