The music video version of “a lot” follows the same structure of the original song with the addition of a new fourth verse from 21. In that verse, he continues many of the song’s original themes, except for the last few lines, in which he criticizes immigration policies on the United States’ border.

The verse was first discovered on physical versions of 21’s sophomore album, i am > i was, on December 31, 2018. When his management turned in the album for physical copies to be made, they turned in a solo version of the track, likely before Cole’s verse was fully completed. 21 revealed in his For the Record interview with Genius, which was recorded the day before the album dropped, that the song had only fully came together a few days before its release.

21 rapped the solo version of the track during his performance of “a lot” on Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show, which premiered on January 29, 2019. The verse then appeared three days later in the song’s music video, which included all verses. This is when most fans discovered it.