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Run a Train

2026 song by J. Cole and Future

"Run a Train" is a song by American rappers J. Cole and Future, released on February 6, 2026 from the former's seventh studio album, The Fall-Off. It was produced by T-Minus, Jūn Tetra & Gldy Jr and Mario Luciano.

01Critical reception

The song received generally positive reviews. Carl Lamarre of Billboard ranked it as the 12th best song from The Fall-Off, writing "With a fistful of punchlines, including *NSYNC and Rip Hamilton namedrops, Cole's lyrical dagger stays sharp as Future holds it down on hook duties." Alexander Cole of HotNewHipHop remarked "it has a truly gorgeous instrumental. In fact, one thing that is for certain about this album is that the production is out of this world. Of course, so is the rapping. This is another storytelling track from Cole, who is using every single trick in his playbook to craft a beautiful new song. This is absolutely one of those songs that we will have to revisit." Benny Sun of Pitchfork had a negative reaction toward the song, stating "Cole remains a technically strong rapper but often gives the impression he's reading directly out of a notebook. His verses on 'Run a Train' sound like they were designed for one of those videos mapping out MF Doom rhyme schemes in different colors of highlighter." He additionally described it as having a "standout awful Future chorus and a tacky genocide allegory."

02Charts

Chart performance for "Run a Train"
Chart (2026) Peak
position
Canada Hot 100 (Billboard)58
Global 200 (Billboard)76
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ) 6
Portugal (AFP) 194
South Africa Streaming (TOSAC) 9
US Billboard Hot 10033
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)12
Watch videos about Run a TrainExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Run a Train, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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