Jermaine Lamarr Cole ‘J. Cole’ (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. His father is an African American veteran, who served in the U.S. Army, and his mother, Kay, born in Michigan, is a European American who was a postal worker for the United States Postal Service. And at his youth stage, his father abandoned his family leaving his mom to fend for themselves. Cole began rapping at the age of twelve, and saw it as an ideal profession in 2000, when his mother purchased an ASR-X musical sampler as a Christmas gift.
Number Four: Wet Dreamz
“Wet Dreamz” is a song by American rapper J. Cole, released on April 14, 2015 as the second single from his third studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. As of 2021, the single has officially been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It has garnered over 218M views on its official music video on YouTube. The song was written and Produced by J. Cole. It peaked at 61 & 16 position on the US Billboard Hot 100 and US Billboard R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs.
FYI
- Cole charged $2,000 per word. He had 199 words on Burna Boy’s “Thanks” on the #ITOLDTHEM 80d Album. That’s $398000 = 307m Naira for the Verse
- Self-taught on piano, Cole also acts as a producer alongside his rap career, producing singles for artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Janet Jackson, as well as handling the majority of the production in his own projects
- All five of his albums have been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
- In September 2022, J. Cole was named as the cover athlete for NBA 2K23 on the Dreamer Edition, and was featured in the game as well as a character in the game’s “MyCareer” mode
- Cole graduated high school with a 4.2 GPA and College with a 3.8GPA
- Cole later worked in various part-time jobs in Fayetteville, including a working ad salesman for a newspaper, a bill collector, a file clerk, and a kangaroo mascot at a skate rink.
Number Three: My Life feat. 21 Savage & Morray
“My Life” is a song by rappers J. Cole, 21 Savage and Morray. It is the third track from Cole’s sixth studio album, The Off-Season, released on May 14, 2021. It garnered over 36M views on its official music audio on YouTube. The single debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Cole’s highest charting single in the country. The song received two nominations at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance respectively. It charted top positions on several countries charts like Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and more. It is certified Platinum and Silver in the United States and United Kingdom.
Number Two: Thanks by Burna Boy Ft J.Cole
With over 575k views on its official music audio on YouTube, “Thanks” becomes the latest song feature for J.Cole released on the 25th of August, 2023. It was released through On A Spaceship Records, Bad Habit Records & Atlantic Records with the song written by Burna Boy, J. Cole, Ashton Sellars, Jonathan Lee & PRGRSHN and produced by Ashton Sellars & Jay Weathers.
Awards/ Nominations
- J.Cole has been nominated over 113 times and has won 11 awards so far
- Cole has won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, a Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Album, three Soul Train Music Awards, and 8 BET Hip Hop Awards
- “Party” was nominated for Best Rap/Song Collaboration at the 54th Grammy Awards and BET Awards.
- “Middle Child” won the award for Impact Track at the 2019 BET Awards and was nominated for Rhythm and Bars Award at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards, at the 2019 Coca Cola’s Viewer’s Choice Award at the BET Awards and Best Rap Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards
- He won the award for Lyricist of the Year at the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards
- “A lot” by 21 Savage was nominated for Best Collaboration and Viewers Choice Awards at the 2019 BET Awards
- “A lot” won the 2020 Grammy Awards for Best Rap song.
Discography
Studio albums
- Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)
- Born Sinner (2013)
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014)
- 4 Your Eyez Only (2016)
- KOD (2018)
- The Off-Season (2021)
- The Fall Off (TBA)
Bonus
A lot feat. J.Cole
“A Lot” is a song by Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage featuring vocals from American rapper, J. Cole. The audio of the song was released on December 20, 2018 via the rapper’s YouTube account. It garnered over 616M views on its official music video on YouTube. The song was written by the artists and its producers DJ Dahi and J. White Did It. It won the 2020 Grammy Awards for Best Rap song.
Controversy
J.Coke has had one too many controversies over the past. The controversy with Puff Daddy. In August 2013, Cole and Puff Daddy were reportedly involved in an altercation at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards after party in New York City. Reports said the incident started when Daddy tried to confront rapper Kendrick Lamar over the “King of New York” claim in his “Control” verse and whilst doing this puff Daddy allegedly attempted to pour a drink on Lamar, which made Cole intervene. The two started arguing and Cole and Daddy allegedly got into an altercation, which then led to problems between their respective crews. After a brief scuffle, both crews separated. Few months later, Cole and Daddy allegedly squashed the beef when both were seen in a video promoting even joking about the incident.
One: Middle Child
With over 1M streams on Spotify and 275M views on its official music video on YouTube, “Middle Child” by J.Cole was released on the 23rd of January, 2019, through Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records, as the first single from Dreamville’s 2019 compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers III. The song was written by J. Cole, T-Minus, Allan Felder, & Norman Harris, and produced by the former two. With only one day of tracking, the song debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The following week, the song peaked at number 4, later becoming J. Cole’s best performing track and
It won the award for Impact Track at the 2019 BET Awards and was nominated for Rhythm and Bars Award at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards, at the 2019 Coca Cola’s Viewer’s Choice Award at the BET Awards and Best Rap Performance at the 2020 Grammy Awards. It peaked top spots on various charts like number one on US Rhythmic Billboard, Number Two on US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, umber three in Belgium Charts, number four in Canada, Greece, Latvia, and many more.
