J. Cole released his long-anticipated album “KOD” on Friday, April 20. The album has three different subtitles: Kids On Drugs, Kill Our Demons and King Overdosed. Each one is a reference to the recent drug crisis among young rappers, ultimately foreshadowing what the album is about.
The album is also about the dangers of capitalism, and how money can change personalities for the worse. Cole portrays himself as highly knowledgeable in his lyrics on the album, describing himself as a “cash king” because of his success last year of bringing in a total of $19 million.
According to The Verge, the album broke Apple Music’s record for most streams within 24 hours in the United States with a total of 64.5 million streams. To add to that, seven out of the top 10 most streamed songs in that 24-hour time span were from “KOD.”
But it was not just Apple Music. J. Cole obtained a total of 36.6 million streams on Spotify within the first 24 hours, the company confirmed in a tweet. This broke Spotify’s previous record of most streams in 24 hours, ultimately demonstrating J. Cole’s dominance within the music industry. Interestingly enough, the previous holder of the 24-hour streaming record on both music services was held by Drake for his album “Views.”