On "First Person Shooter," Drake's latest No. 1 single on which the Toronto rapper trades bars with J. Cole, the Boy boasts that their collaboration is as "big as the Super Bowl." Now, that standout track from For All the Dogs has an accompanying music video that is, fittingly, larger than life. In fact, it's one of the most grandiose and enjoyable clips of the year.
The video debuted yesterday (Nov. 15), depicting the friendly competition between Cole and Drake—two titans (and soon-to-be tourmates) on the mic doing the most, not the lesser. They match wits in chess, turn ping pong into an extreme sport, and shoot it out on the basketball court. It's playful and creative and somehow makes us love the song even more than we already did.
Related: Some of Y’all Are Being Real Hypocritical About Drake
But part of the genius of the Gibson Hazard-directed short is in the many visual references that are recreated—some easily apparent and others a bit more obscure. The @jcolevillle account on X (f.k.a. Twitter) did God's work and matched up each reference side-by-side in an enlightening thread (with a couple of assists from other tweeters). Peep the video below, and then check out the different sources of inspiration from which Drake pulled. Did you catch any others?
Continuing The Office theme they recreated Ping Pong Scene from 2011 pic.twitter.com/5112SgS5Df
— J. COLE FAN PAGE (@Jcolevillle) November 16, 2023
Recreated Messi and Ronaldo's Iconic Chess photo (2022) pic.twitter.com/LFcc40BrRG
— J. COLE FAN PAGE (@Jcolevillle) November 16, 2023
Drake referenced Michael Jackson's 'HIStory
— J. COLE FAN PAGE (@Jcolevillle) November 16, 2023
Teaser' pic.twitter.com/6sLBmY9UBv
Drake wore John Purves Jersey/ San Francisco (2004) pic.twitter.com/e8E0R8JcZf
— J. COLE FAN PAGE (@Jcolevillle) November 16, 2023
Also the basketball rim on fire like J. Cole’s last tour pic.twitter.com/kCHvgTy0Vj
— Pash Pete (@Pash_Pete) November 16, 2023
You missed the score during ping pong. It was “79-69” aka 7969 Santa which is a track on the same album as FPS.
— billygoat 🦉🧸🌵 (@onlybillygoat) November 16, 2023