“The London” by Young Thug (Ft. Travis Scott & J. Cole)

First off, “The London” is the name of a swanky hotel located in New York City. It comes into play during the chorus of this song as the place Travis Scott is requesting an associate to meet him at. Or he tells this person they can rendezvous elsewhere, so long as he or she sends him the coordinates to where they are located. And amidst all of this, Travis makes a statement out of left field alluding to his vast amount of wealth.

J. Cole steps in

Meanwhile J. Cole begins his verse referring to his violent gangster lifestyle, which has been one of his favorite topics as of 2019. Later he also brings up the fact that he “killed some ni**as” but in that regard may be referring to lyrically doing so. And throughout his rap, he gets into his ability to have intimate affairs with other guys’ girlfriends. He also talks about his cashflow and even calling other dudes “pu**y”, which are noticeable deviations from the ‘conscious rapper’ persona he has established throughout his career. But this is not meant to be an analysis of J. Cole as an artist but rather an interpretation of this particular track. And in that regard, his primary goal seems to be to more or less establishing himself as one of the head honchos in the rap game. He apparently wants to show the world that he can masterfully spit game along the same lines as his peers.

Young Thug steps in

Then Young Thug starts off his section by seemingly indicating that he is a drug dealer.  Indeed later in the verse he refers to his ability to run a prison yard, once again establishing himself as a boss amongst criminals. He then gives a shoutout to his “shorty”, who is presented as a ride-or-die chick, albeit one who is concerned about his choice of a lifestyle. Thugger also notes that he’s “at The London with some big thighs”, alluding to him chilling at the hotel with a woman who “eat(s) steaks with fish sides”. And Thug concludes along the same vein of presenting the type of content he is generally known for. A good example of this is when he expresses a wherewithal to intimately exploit other guys’ women. He also references his ability to inflict pain on opps.

 Conclusion

All things considered the main theme of this track is “money”, since The London is an upscale establishment. However, the artists get into other topics also, such as women and violence. So despite the fact that this track features an artist (J. Cole) who is not popularly known to go that route, what we have here is more or less your average rap tune, despite the fact that it contains some master’s level lyricism.

Facts about “The London”

• Prior to this track, Young Thug had teamed up with Travis Scott numerous times. However, “The London” was the first time J. Cole collaborated with either of these artists.
• Young Thug teased the release of this track on 12 May 2019 during 2019’s Rolling Loud music festival in Miami by handing out fliers referring to the song as the “new summer anthem”.
• “The London” was written by Travis Scott alongside his collaborators J. Cole and Young Thug. In addition to the three rappers, the track’s producer, T-Minus also receives songwriting credit.
• This track, which dropped on 23 May 2019, is slated to be featured on Young Thug’s upcoming album GØŁDMØÜFDÖG. The album was executively produced by J. Cole.