Meaning of “Passport Bros” by Bas & J. Cole
Bas is a rapper who, according to his discography, has been running with J. Cole’s label Dreamville Records for almost a decade as of the release of “Passport Bros” on 19 July 2023. As such it is Dreamville who put this song out, in conjunction with Interscope Records and UMG.
Also, since Cole does regularly team up with his underlings, he and Bas have appeared together in song numerous times throughout the years, including Jermaine showing up on Bas’s very first single, which was 2013’s Lit.
It’s the two rappers who wrote this song, with its producers being AzizTheShake, DZL and Luca Mauti.
The Lyrics of “Passport Bros”
From the onset, the lyrics do conform to that premise, i.e. the vocalists being f**ked up, or more specifically in this case inebriated on Clase Azul, which is a type of tequila which, of course, is pricey for a bottle of alcohol. And it is that liquor which is compelling them to sing “I love you too” to the addressee, thus establishing that this is a love song.
As for the title, as generally understood a “Passport Bro” would be someone like an American who decides to go to another, let’s say humbler country in search of a wife. In other words, such men opt to do so rather than continuing to date women from their own homeland/culture.
That’s not really what this song is about, at least not within the full spectrum of what being a Passport Bro generally entails based on the above definition. Instead, Bas and Cole use the opportunity to sorta allude to dating abroad in general.
For instance, we find the former depicting himself in the first verse interacting with a woman as if he owns a yacht. And in the third verse Jermaine namedrops a number of trendy locations and the attention he draws from women when hitting up these venues, but they’re all in richer countries – including his homeland of the US if we take the M.I.A. he mentions as a reference to Miami – not the more remote parts of the world.
“No more dares, only truths, girl, how ’bout we go?
Go up shelf, we not drinkin’ Casamigos
Are you impaired? You’re not there, but I’m a little
Clase Azul got me singin’, ‘I love you too’”
As for the chorus above, it does make “Passport Bros” sound more like a love song, albeit one where neither party involved in the romance comes off as being particularly serious. For instance, the rappers imply that the only time they’re compelled to say “I love you too” back to such a romantic interest is when they’re under the influence of alcohol.
So conclusively, we’ll take this as sort of an international dating song, though not true “Passport Bros” fare but more like the rappers implying that they’re global playas. J. Cole, as an A list rapper, would logically have more experience in that regard than Bas, which may explain why Jermaine’s verse reads more as if it’s based in reality than fantasy.
