Middle Child
"Middle Child" is a song by American rapper J. Cole. The song was released on January 23, 2019, through Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records, as the first single from Dreamville's 2019 compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers III. The song was written by J. Cole, T-Minus, Allan Felder, & Norman Harris, and produced by the former two.[2][3] It was serviced to rhythmic and urban contemporary 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."[4]
For the PnB Rock and XXXTentacion song, see Middle Child (PnB Rock and XXXTentacion song)."Middle Child"
Production[edit]
"Middle Child" was produced by both J. Cole and Canadian hip-hop producer T-Minus. 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.[8][9] This allowed them to isolate horns before adding in the drums. In an episode of Genius' Deconstructed, T-Minus explained he "put some reverb on [the horn sample] to give it that effect of it being a little bit more airy, a little bit bigger".[9] 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, very short but rhythmic". 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.[9] T-Minus noted the 808 for being "really hard" and also incorporated hi-hats to add "more energy to the song when it drops".[9] The last production detail was including T-Minus' signature "trippy vibe", which he previously utilized on song like Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and Lil Wayne's "She Will"—"at the end of the record, we kind of added this effect to make everything kind of sound dark and kind of trippy".[9]
Commercial performance[edit]
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 with 21 Savage & Morray, which peaked at number two.[10][11] The song also peaked at number 2 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Live performances[edit]
J. Cole performed "Middle Child" at the 2019 NBA All-Star Game halftime show on February 17, 2019, in Charlotte, North Carolina.[18]
Remixes[edit]
Many remixes have been made, including by rappers Deante' Hitchcock, released on January 28, 2019,[19] Reason, released on March 8, 2019,[20] and Montana of 300, released on March 24, 2019.[21]