Survival
Survival is the curtain-raiser to Scorpion, the 2018 double album Drake released into one of the most scrutinized stretches of his career. Produced by Noah '40' Shebib and No I.D. — the same No I.D. who had just produced Pusha T's 'The Story of Adidon' instrumental weeks earlier — the track contains a sample of 'Telex' (written by Klaus Netzle and Manuel Landy, performed by Claude Larson), and functions as a state-of-war address. It is widely read as Drake answering a year of speculation and the Pusha T exchange by reasserting his standing rather than litigating specifics, framing his position at the top as something defended rather than simply enjoyed. As the album opener it establishes Scorpion's bifurcated logic — a rap-leaning A-side and a singing B-side — and signals that the project will be a defense of empire as much as a body of new songs. The brooding, low-lit production matches the posture: survival narrated from inside the bunker, not a celebration.
Sources & verification
Citations below were matched specifically to "Survival" and Scorpion. Drake Universe catalogs songs by album placement, verified collaborators, producers, samples, and themes, and avoids unsupported lyric-level claims.
- Pitchfork: Drake 'Scorpion' album reviewPitchfork · 2018-07-02 — Dated review covering 'March 14' as the Adonis acknowledgment track.
- Billboard: Scorpion breaks streaming records on opening dayBillboard · 2018-07-02 — Dated report covering one-day Spotify and Apple Music streaming records on Scorpion's June 29, 2018 release.
- Billboard: Drake's Scorpion charts 27 songs on the Hot 100Billboard · 2018-07-09 — Dated report on the then-record 27 simultaneous Hot 100 entries from Scorpion.
- Apple Music: Scorpion sets one-day streaming recordApple · 2018-07-02 — Apple's announcement that Scorpion topped 170 million U.S. streams in its first 24 hours, a then-record.
- The Breakfast Club: Drake interview (2018)Power 105.1 / YouTube · 2018-07-09 — YouTube upload of Drake's Scorpion-week Breakfast Club appearance.
- The New York Times: Drake's Scorpion review/featureThe New York Times · 2018-06-29 — NYT Joe Coscarelli Scorpion feature.
- Billboard: Drake's Scorpion Era cover (2018)Billboard · 2018-06-21 — Billboard cover story tied to Scorpion.
- Rap Radar: Drake — Scorpion in review (2018)TIDAL / YouTube · 2018-12-14 — YouTube upload of Drake's 2018 Rap Radar episode.
- NME: Drake Announces Assassination Vacation TourNME · 2019-01-22 — NME coverage of Drake's 2019 European-only Scorpion follow-up tour, named after the 'Going Bad' lyric.
- Wikipedia: Scorpion (Drake album)Wikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Primary reference for Scorpion tracklist, per-track producers, samples/interpolations, personnel, critical reception (Metacritic 67, Pitchfork 6.9), and commercial performance (732,000 first-week units, streaming records, seven top-10 Hot 100 singles).
- Wikipedia: The Story of AdidonWikipedia · 2026-05-18 — Context for the Pusha T feud backdrop to Scorpion: the May 29, 2018 diss track exposing Drake's son Adonis with Sophie Brussaux, the blackface cover art, and how it set up Scorpion's confessional turn on Emotionless and March 14.
- Stories From the Making of Drake's 'Dark Lane Demo Tapes'Complex · 2026-05-18 — Producer-sourced making-of detail cited via Wikipedia: Plain Pat co-produced 'Deep Pockets' (originally a Scorpion cut) with 40; MexikoDro co-produced the 2017 plugg-music 'From Florida with Love' with 40; Foreign Teck on the secluded LA sessions that produced 'Gold Roses' and 'Losses'; Southside's 2017 origin of 'D4L'; JB Made It producing 'Demons.'
