Started from the Bottom Lyrics
Started—
Zombie on the track
[Chorus]
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now my whole team fuckin' here
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team here, nigga
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now my whole team here, nigga
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team fuckin' here
[Verse 1]
I done kept it real from the jump
Livin' at my momma's house, we'd argue every month
Nigga, I was tryna get it on my own
Workin' all night, traffic on the way home
And my uncle callin' me, like, "Where you at?
I gave you the keys, told you bring it right back”
Nigga, I just think it's funny how it goes
Now I'm on the road, half a million for a show, and we—
[Chorus]
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now my whole team fuckin' here
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team here, nigga
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team fuckin' here
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team here, nigga
Boys tell stories 'bout the man
Say I never struggled, wasn't hungry, yeah, I doubt it
Nigga, I could turn your boy into the man
There ain't really much out here that's poppin' off without us
Nigga, we just want the credit where it's due
I'ma worry 'bout me, give a fuck about you
Nigga, just as a reminder to myself
I wear every single chain, even when I'm in the house
'Cause we—
[Chorus]
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now my whole team fuckin' here
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team here, nigga
[Bridge]
No new niggas, nigga, we don't feel that
Fuck a fake friend, where your real friends at?
We don't like to do too much explainin'
Story stayed the same, I never changed it
No new niggas, nigga, we don't feel that
Fuck a fake friend, where your real friends at?
We don't like to do too much explainin'
Story stayed the same through the money and the fame
'Cause we—
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now my whole team fuckin' here
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team here, nigga
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now my whole team here, nigga
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Started from the bottom, now the whole team here, nigga
[Produced by Mike Zombie]
On the lead single to Nothing Was the Same, Drake delivers a come-up piece about how he “Started from the Bottom.“
Thematically, this track embodies the famed underdog narrative, but it was subject to a lot of discussion upon its release—there were debates about how low the “bottom“ had been for Drake. He responded to the criticism the song received in a June 2013 interview with GQ:
I think a lot of people wish that their favorite rapper wrote it—as if a song like that should be gangster. But I was the one who wrote it, and everyone has their bottom.
Drake had originally planned to debut the track on the same day as the 2012 Grammy Awards, but instead chose to release it a week earlier via his website, along with the following message:
I feel sometimes that people don’t have enough information about my beginnings and therefore they make up a life story for me that isn’t consistent with actual events.
The music video dropped on February 13, 2013, and features Drake as a drugstore worker before being promoted to night manager—the video also sees him partying, flying in jets, and dancing next to a Bentley in a blizzard, underlining his journey from the bottom to the top.
Following its release, the song received massive acclaim, both critically and commercially, and has gone on to be recognized as one of Drake’s best songs.
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Future explained that Drake found the inspiration for “Started from the Bottom” during a studio session when he misheard Future saying “start it from the bottom” while recording “Chosen One.” A mondegreen was the main inspiration for “Started from the Bottom.”
During an interview with Shahdom Reid & JAY Z’s Life+Times, Future said he wanted to be featured on “Started from the Bottom.”
When he made the record, he was in a studio session with me. It was for “Chosen One”… So when we was at the studio, Drake came by, and I always tell my engineer “start it from the bottom”… He was waiting for me in “Chosen One” to say “start it from the bottom.”
He telling me this story — He bought me a bottle of Louis XIII that I never opened up because of this story and I was like, “Man I don’t want a bottle, I need publishing.” But Drake, that’s the homie and he was like, “Um, man, start it from the bottom, it stayed on my mind.” — “I instantly got in with the driver and told him to put the CD in, I already had the beat and I just started saying ‘started from the bottom now we here.‘”
I was like, “Man, why you didn’t tell me in the studio?” That’s the first time I ever told somebody that story in the public. I’m not doing it for the publicity, just being honest.
According to Songfacts, Drake told Billboard magazine the song “Niggas in Paris” for his inspiration:
I was like, ‘How did I not think of that?’ – ‘Ball so hard, that s–t cray!’ It was real rap s–t, but it felt melodic; all the cadences felt so good.“ The Toronto MC added that it challenged him to come up with a rapped hook just as catchy as a sung one and he came up with this song.
“Started from the Bottom” was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA on September 25, 2019.
- 3.Started from the Bottom
- 5.Own It
- 7.From Time
- 9.Connect
- 10.The Language
- 11.305 to My City
- 12.Too Much
- 14.Come Thru
- 15.All Me
