On his third studio album, Luv 4 Rent, Smino collaborates with J. Cole on a smooth track called “90 Proof.” The song is a laid-back vibe, as Smino delivers his signature soulful, high-pitched vocal stylings on the song’s chorus.
“Take a break and roll the sticky, let’s get high / Not too great at relationships, at least I try / Patient, baby, gotta make a couple rounds / ‘Fore I make it back to you to settle down,” he sings.
In typical fashion, Cole swoops in with a fiery verse, with notable bars including, “‘Bout to go pull up on RiRi, and not for the feature, Ben Franklin note / You ain’t finna catch me in the type of places everybody go / I know exactly what my hands is for, to carry a lot of dough.”
Today, Smino and Cole have shared the song’s official visual. In the Phillip Youmans-directed cut, Smino and Cole are seen enjoying time with friends and family at a house party, vibing by an old-fashioned car, and playing an intense game of Uno.
In an interview with Complex, Smino revealed that “90 Proof” almost didn’t make the Luv 4 Rent tracklist, as Cole wanted the song for an album of his own.
“I never thought about being a songwriter, but he was like, ‘You keep yourself on the song, and I’ll be on it too. But I want to put it on my album,’” Smino said. “And I was like, ‘aigh.’ I thought about it and the whole time I knew it would be great for me, being on J. Cole’s album. When I was wrapping up the tracklist, though, I just felt like something was missing, and I put ’90 Proof’ right after my intro and it just sounded like they were meant for each other. So I just called Cole and asked him if I could get the song back and he let me.”
Check out the video for “90 Proof” above.