“Under the Sun” by Dreamville (ft. J. Cole, DaBaby & Lute)

The titular phrase “down bad” refers to the artists being in a depressed state, not so much mentally but in terms of experiencing lack of upward mobility in life. But this is, of course, before they became the headline artists that they are today. So the theme of this track is more or less the come-up of the artists, as in comparing their past lives to their current existence and documenting the sacrifices they had to make before reaching their enviable statuses, while still aspiring to go even higher.

At times they deviate from this theme, if you will, to tout their overall bada*sery and superiority over other dudes who can’t keep up with their level of progress. However, the likely logic behind such boasting within the overall context of the song, besides making sure it is a standard mainstream rap, is to further illustrate the depths from which the artists have arisen.

Facts about “Down Bad”

Dreamville is the name of the record label founded by J. Cole in 2007. And all of the artists featured on this track, with the exception of Young Nudy, are signed to Dreamville Records.

The Dreamville crew teased the release of this song a day before it came out by changing the profile pictures on their social media. However, J. Cole previewed this track back in February during NBA All-Star Weekend, and JID also gave fans a taste of it at the Rolling Loud Festival in May.

At the time J. Cole previewed “Down Bad” in February it was an untitled song. However, the fans themselves gave it this name.

The writers of “Down Bad” are its five rappers – Young Nudy, JID, Bas, J. Cole and Johnny Venus (of Earthgang) – in addition to the track’s producer, Pluss.

Dreamville Records, Interscope Records and Universal Music Group released this track on 12 June 2019. It is a single from Dreamville’s album Revenge of the Dreamers III.