J. Cole
Oct 31, 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.
Cole's debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story was released September 27th under Roc Nation. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart with 218,000 units sold in the first week following its release. The lead single off the album "Work Out" is climbing up the charts and impacting Top 40 radio now.
