J. Cole
Sep 12, 2011
J.Cole started rapping at the age of 14 when his cousin showed him the basics of rhyming and word play. Inspired by rappers such as 2Pac, Canibus, Nas, Eminem and Jay-Z, Cole developed a love for telling stories in his lyrics. At age 15, J. Cole had notebooks filled with rhymes but no beats of his own to record them with. J.Cole stood outside of Jay Z's place of business for three hours in order to give him a beat he sampled by Idris Muhammad, so that Jay Z could use it. However, when Jay Z came out of his building he shunned the up-and-coming rapper. Before One morning, he turned on his cell phone and noticed that he received a text from an associate asking J.Cole to call the associate back. When J.Cole called his associate back, he told J.Cole that he received a call from Jay Z's associates and that he had to meet with them as soon as possible. Needless to say J. Cole left his day job.
Cole released his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in late 2007 after graduating college. Cole put his mixtape The Come Up hosted by DJ On Point including "soul filled sound beats, raw, energetic drums and an endless range of topics; everything from the carefree days of college to the seemingly endless plight of those have-nots scrapping for change" Jay-Z signed Cole after hearing one of the songs, "Lights Please." He released his second mixtape, The Warm Up, on June 15, 2009. Following the release of The Warm Up, he released the freestyle "Back to the Topic."
To celebrate the anniversary of the release of The Warm Up mixtape, J. Cole released a freestyle entitled "The Last Stretch" on June 15, 2010. In August 2010 J. Cole, was awarded the UMA Male Artist of the Year thanks to his heralded The Warm U' mixtape and a high profile deal with Jay-Z's label Roc Nation at the 2010 Underground Music Awards. On November 12, 2010 J. Cole released his third official mixtape titled Friday Night Lights. The tape included features from Drake, Wale & Omen with most of the production being handled by Cole with a little help from Syience, Bink & L&X Music. On April 25, 2011, Vibe listed him at number 5 on their Vibe's list of Greatest Rappers Alive 30 Under 30.
On May 22, 2011, J. Cole released a song entitled "Return of Simba," the third in the "Simba series" following "Simba" and "Grown Simba." He served as a supporting act for Drake, on the Light Dreams and Nightmares UK Tour in January. Cole will return to the UK in the autumn to support Tinie Tempah on his 7-city Arena Tour which begins at Liverpool's Echo Arena on October 31 and ends at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena on November 8 with a stop over at the 02 arena in London on November 4.
On June 21, J. Cole took to Twitter to announce that his debut album will be released on September 27 under the title Cole World: The Sideline Story. While in Barbados for his last performance as the official opening act for Rihanna's Loud Tour, Cole shot the music video for his debut album's newest single, "Can't Get Enough", with Trey Songz and Rihanna, who provided a cameo while in her home town.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
- September 14th Houston, TX (Warehouse Live)
- September 15th New Orleans, LA (House of Blues)
- September 16th Dallas, TX (Southside Music Hall)
- September 17th Austin, TX (Emos)
- September 19th Denver, CO (The Ogden)
- September 20th Albuquerque, NM (Sunshine Theater)
- September 21st Phoenix, AZ (The Venue)
- September 22nd Los Angeles, CA (Club Nokia)
- September 23rd San Francisco, CA (Regency)
- September 29th Winston Salem, NC (Winston Salem State University)
- October 2nd Atlanta, GA (Tabernacle)
- October 4th Cleveland, OH (House of Blues)
- October 6th Kalamazoo, MI (Kalamazoo State Theatre)
- October 7th Detroit, MI (Royal Oak)
- October 8th Milwaukee, WI (The Rave)
- October 9th Chicago, IL (House of Blues)
- October 12th Philadelphia, PA (Electric Factory)
- October 13th Charlotte, NC (Fillmore)
- October 14th Norfolk, VA (Old Dominion University)
- October 15th Elizabeth City, NC (Elizabeth City State University)
- October 16th Myrtle Beach, SC (House of Blues)
- October 19th Washington, DC (Fillmore)
- October 20th Baltimore, MD (Sound Stage)
- October 21st Albany, NY (Armory)
- October 22nd Worcester, MA (Palladium)
- October 23rd Providence, RI (Lupo's)
- October 25th New York, NY (Best Buy Theatre)
