Listen to B.o.B.’s Nelly-Assisted Track ‘MJ’

Back in March, B.o.B told us what to expect of his Nelly-assisted track ‘MJ,’ which at the time was slated to appear on his second LP, ‘Strange Clouds’ (in stores this week). Turns out it’s actually only available as a bonus cut at Target, and now it’s recently made its way online. 

We thought it might be about Michael Jackson, or maybe another famous MJ, Michael Jordan. But he said the inspiration comes from… well a much more broader reference.

“[The song] is about ballin’,” B.o.B. explained. “It’s like, I feel like ballin’ has grown into a universal term. You know, anybody can say it. You know, a 5-year-old kid enlisted in minor league sports can say, ‘I’m ballin’.’ The CEO of a business down the street getting off of work, making choices in business left and right, getting into his car, he can say, ‘I’m ballin’.’ A college student could crush up the final exam, end up with a 4.0 [GPA], graduate summa cum laude, they could say, ‘I’m ballin’.’ And that’s what it’s about. It’s about ‘MJ’-ing.”

But, while speaking his own words into existence, sure enough, B.o.B. does eventually channel Jordan on the celebratory jam:

“I be ballin’ on these n—as all day, all day / they gon’ have to call a n—a MJ, MJ,” he sings in the song’s refrain.

Nelly, however, is even more direct. Over a skittering double-time drum pattern, he spits: “You talking money you, be calling my name / You talking ’bout flipping money, then you talking my game / You talking ’bout getting money then we talking the same / You talking ’bout small money then you talking that lame.”