In May, Lil Durk‘s “All My Life” featuring J. Cole, the lead single for his eventual Almost Healed album, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. Durk’s highest charting song ever as the primary artist, “All My Life” saw a change of tone from the Chicago MC, as he traded in his drug and gang-related lyrics to make a positive anthem for today’s youth.
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Four months after first putting the song out, Lil Durk was finally able to connect with Cole to perform “All My Life” live. Bringing out his collaborator during his headlining set on Friday (September 22) at the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas, Durk gave fans a special moment. And, though he let the studio version of the All my life hook, sung by children’s choir, play over the speakers, both he and Cole rapped most of their portions from the song themselves.
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“All My Life” served as the first-ever collaboration between Durk and Cole. Though it’s not confirmed, it is likely that the song came together back in April, when Durk performed a set at Dreamville Festival in North Carolina, hosted by Cole’s record label.
“I was gonna do [the festival] anyways,” he said during an interview at the fest. “I wanted to do it anyway getting to the festival world, but me and J. Cole cooking up something too. We’re just vibing, working, you know what I’m saying?”
After the song came out, Durk was the first one to admit that he was outperformed by Cole on the song, a feeling he rarely gets when collaborating with other artists.
“The number one thing, he smoked my ass on that, for one,” he told Complex during an interview. “Barely. That barely happens. But shoutout to Cole… We made it happen.”
Regardless, though, both of them shined on stage this weekend in Vegas when rapping “All My Life,” one of the most important songs in Durk’s entire catalog. Check out the performance below.
Photo by Steve Cannon / Courtesy CL Media
