Drake: ‘Free Smoke’ Picked As Next Single, Lyrics Reference Kid Cudi And JLo

Drake has chosen his next few singles from his latest release More Life and they are the tracks ‘Passionfruit’ and ‘Free Smoke.’

To be released on March 28, ”Passionfruit’ is a dance-hall infused tune by the Toronto rapper which GQ describes as the playlist’s best song. To follow up, the song ‘Free Smoke’ is to be released on April 18 and is perhaps the more interesting of the two in terms of what its lyrics reveal.

Here, Drake sheds light on the rumored romance between he and Jennifer Lopez. In the song, he reveals that he often drunk texts Jlo, which “bounce[s] back” because it’s an old number. He seems to be adding fuel to the rumor mill about the two being romantically involved after an intimate photo of the two was posted on Instagram late last year.

In a report by DigitalSpy, the quick reference to Lopez isn’t the only time she is referred on the new “playlist”, but he even samples her classic hit ‘If You Had My Love’ on his track “Teenage Fever.” This throwback to Jennifer’s first-ever single from 1999 (which was also her first #1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart), has fans of the rumored couple (briefly called Drennifer) rejoicing. A few months ago, Lopez spoke about the rumored romance on Ellen and nonchalantly noted that the duo had written and recorded a song together, but did not elaborate further.

In addition, ‘Free Smoke’ is also a track that seemingly ‘comes at’ Kid Cudi (who Drake has been publicly feuding with since last year). In the intro to ‘Free Smoke’, Drake is quoted as saying “Please come outside the house and show yourself/So I can say it to your face”, in reference to Kid Cudi’s tweets last year in response to an initial diss on Drake’s song “Two Birds, One Stone”, XXLMagreported. Later on in the same song, he raps “Y’all keep playing with ya nose, yeah/You get high and the do the most, yeah,” reportedly referencing Cudi’s drug habits.

Drake has had his fair share of feuds in the public eye. Most notably, his fights with fellow rappers Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown come to mind first. Perhaps his feud with Brown is the most known, only for its longevity. The pair have been going back and forth with insults for nearly five years, at least in part due to Drake’s relationship with Rihanna.

As for the rest of Drake’s new release, the reviews have been kind thus far. Entertainment Weekly has deemed it an improvement over the flaws of his previous album Views, and gave it a B+ rating. With a track listing of 22 songs, there is plenty of variety offered, if not a bit too much. A total running-time of 81 minutes is quite impressive for a release not even deemed an “album”, but rather a “playlist”. It was released on March 18 and Forbes is predicting yet another #1 album for the rapper. No other releases in the past week are predicted to come close to taking the top spot away from him. If he hits number 1 with More Life, it will mark the 5th album-length effort to reach the top as his first four studio albums all peaked at number one in the U.S.

What are your thoughts on Drake’s newest music? How does it compare to Views? What are your thoughts on his not-so-subtle references to Jlo and Kid Cudi? Sound off in the comment section below!

Watch JLo’s appearance on Ellen where she talks about her and Drake’s rumored romance below.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/ Getty Images]