Kodak Black dropped by Jimmy Kimmel on Monday night to perform the song “Testimony” from his sophomore studio album Dying to Live. The project spans 16 tracks and includes guest appearances by Lil Pump, Juice WRLD, Travis Scott, and Offset. It also received an endorsement from Drake, who reached out to Kodak via text to let him know Dying to Live was one of his favorite albums of “the last 5 years.”
Prior to Kimmel, the Florida rapper’s promotional run for the album included an awkward interview on Ebro in the Morning. During the sit-down, Ebro touched on Kodak’s ongoing legal issues, including a 2016 incident in which Kodak allegedly raped a teenage girl in South Carolina. “I feel like sometimes when n***as be going through shit, like, y'all be entertained by bullshit,” a visibly upset Kodak said. “Change the subject, or else I'm finna walk out.”
Moments later, the rapper stood up and stormed out. The rape claims resulted in charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Kodak’s trial will begin in spring 2019, where he will face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Despite the messiness of Kodak’s appearance on Hot 97, it's looking as though all the surrounding controversy actually paid off. Hits Daily Double reported on Monday that Dying to Live made an impressive debut this week, and is expected to garner a total of 60,000-70,000 thousand album equivalent units, 4K-7K of which will be pure album sales. If all goes according to plan, it will be the Florida rapper's first number one album.
