Today, we celebrate the hard work of that first rapper to go platinum in 25 years without features. German-born American hip hop recording artist, songwriter and record producer, actor. He’s been compared to Nas on numerous occasions ever since he came on the scene. Lyrically, he could be described as a blend of Nas may be. He’s got his own flow so much such that his kind of music has earned him huge Nigerian fan base even though he’s started infusing some not too radio-friendly pop music route in recent times. The rapper released his 5th album over a couple of month and was in the news this past week/this week.
J Cole is the artist guys! Jermaine Lamarr Cole better known by his stage name J. Cole was born on January 28, 1985 into a military family in Germany but raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. His father is African-American. His mother is German. His father served in the United States Army. He has an older brother named Zach Cole. His childhood revolved around a love for both basketball and rap music. In his teen years he hooked up with a local group called Bomm Sheltuh, He added record production to his repertoire and his stage name was Therapist.
Yeah! J Cole started rapping at the age of 12, by age 14; he had notebooks filled with rhymes. By 15, he became serious about making and by 17; he was posting songs on various internet forums under the moniker “Therapist”. Actually, his mother bought him an 808 beat machine so he could produce music himself but no beats of his own to record them with.
His father left the family when he was still young. He mother relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he was raised. After college, J Cole concluded that he had a better chance of getting a record deal in New York City, so he chose to attend St. John’s University on an academic scholarship. There, he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude. In April 2015, J. Cole officially received his diploma from his alma mater, St. John’s University, during a homecoming appearance/concert. He later revealed that he never got it, because he owed money for a library book he never paid for.
Fast forward 2007 J Cole released his first mixtape, The Come Up. The mixtape was well received but wasn’t awarded significant recognition. Shortly after he was contacted Jay Z and subsequently signed to his record label Roc Nation, in 2009. After signing on to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint in 2009, he then released his second mixtape, The Warm Up, which was followed by third mixtape, Friday Night Lights, in 2010.
Cole released his debut studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011. It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, and was soon certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). World: The Sideline Story debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, Top R&B Albums and Top Rap Albums chart, selling more than 218,000 in its first week. There is something funny about this album. We tell you that after the number song. Be by your radio guys!
No 4 “Deja Vu/ Neighbors (The album supported two singles) off his 4th album -4 Your Eyez Only released in 2016.
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Cole purposely avoided releasing his debut album’s title Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011 for fear of inconsistency, only announcing that Jay-Z would be featured on his debut album.
Cole’s second album, Born Sinner, was released in June 2013. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. The album later rose to number one, giving Cole his second number one on the chart He proceeded to his third album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive which was released December 2014. This album also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, giving Cole his third number one album as well as reaching Platinum status.
As of September 2015, the album has sold one million copies in the United States. By doing so, J. Cole earned his first million-selling album in the country. The album was supported by four singles: “Apparently”, “Wet Dreamz”, “No Role Modelz” and “Love Yourz”. It was announced three weeks before its release and had very little marketing, with no singles or promotion taking place prior to its release. However, the album was certified double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in October 2016.2014 Forest Hills Drive was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 58th Grammy Awards. The album won Album of the Year at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards, and Top Rap Album at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards
4 Your Eyez Only is the 4th studio album by American rapper J. Cole. It was released on December 9, 2016, by Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records. The album was Cole’s first release with Interscope—his previous albums were released by Columbia. The album also serves as Dreamville’s president Ibrahim Hamad first executive producer credit for a Cole album. This album was released exactly two years after Cole’s previous studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
The album explores a variety of topics concerning the African American community including, mass incarceration, racial discrimination, gang violence and depression. The album also touches on other topics such as, love and fatherhood. Most of these recordings took place from 2015 to 2016, while the production on the album was primarily handled by Cole himself, alongside several other record producers
The album was nominated at the BET Hiphop music awards 2017 in the category Album of the Year 2017. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum in April 2017 as well as debuting at number one on Billboard’s Canadian Albums Chart.
All 10 songs from 4 Your Eyez Only debuted in the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100.Deja Vu – UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[14] 30, US Billboard Hot 100 at no 7, US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) at 4, US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (Billboard) at 4
NO 3. Apparently Grammy Awards: for Best Rap Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards.
Both the 2013’s Born Sinner and 2014’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive were certified platinum in the United States. 3rd album – 2014 Forest Hills Drive earned him his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. Few interesting gist about the 4th album is that its popularity has drawn crowds to the residential address – 2014 Forest Hills Drive even neighbors said people have tried getting on the roof to copy the album cover. However, a security fence was installed to keep people off the property
No 2: KOD A music video for the song, “ATM”, was released on April 20, 2018, the same day as the release of the album.”ATM” was also featured in a 2018 NBA Playoffs commercial for ESPN. The song debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Earlier in April Rapper, J. Cole took to his official twitter account to announce that his fifth full length studio album. Prior to the announcement, Cole had posted an invite for a show at NYC’s Gramercy Theatre which many believed to be the album’s listening party as he instructed, “No phones. No cameras. No bags. No press list. No guess list, Rapper J Cole eventually released his 5th album titled KOD (Consequenceofsound) 20th April 2018 through Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records.[3] Majority of the production on the album was primarily handled by Cole himself, along with others such as T-Minus, Mark Pelli, BLVK and Ron Gilmore. The album explores a variety of topics including drug abuse, addiction, depression, and African-American culture.
The album was nominated at the BET Hiphop music awards 2017 in the category Album of the Year 2017. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum in April 2017 as well as debuting at number one on Billboard’s Canadian Albums Chart.
All 10 songs from 4 Your Eyez Only debuted in the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100.Deja Vu – UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[14] 30, US Billboard Hot 100 at no 7, US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) at 4, US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (Billboard) at 4
KOD received generally positive reviews and debuted atop the US Billboard 200, selling 397,000 album-equivalent units in its first week (174,000 coming from pure sales), earning Cole his fifth consecutive number-one album in the country, while also breaking several streaming records. The album also debuted at number-one in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. The album has since been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Interesting facts
Cole stood outside of Jay Z’s Roc the Mic Studio for three hours in order to give him a beat called “On Top of the World” in which he sampled Idris Muhammad, so that his mentor-to-be could use it. However, when Jay-Z came out of his building he shunned the up-and-coming rapper.
He once said he can identify with White people because of his mother side of the family whom he loves. But at the end of the day, he never felt White. I don’t know what that feels like. I can identify. But never have I felt like I’m one of them. Not that I wanted to, or tried to, but it just was what it was. I identify more with what I look like, because that’s how I got treated. Not necessarily in a negative way. But when you get pulled over by the police, I can’t pull out my half-White card. Or if I just meet you on the street you’re not gonna be like, “This guy seems half-White.
- Cole’s was in the news earlier this week/this past week for his home in Fayetteville vandalized. In 2014, J. Cole announced that his record label Dreamville Records had signed a distribution deal with Interscope Records, and released a label compilation mixtape titled Revenge of the Dreamers. Same year he purchased his childhood home in Fayetteville for $120,000 through his Dreamville Foundation.
He planned to turn into a rent-free home for single mothers and their families “My goal is to have that be a haven for a family,” Cole told New York’s Combat Jack internet radio show. “So every two years, a new family will come in and live rent-free. The idea is that it’s a single mother with multiple kids. I want her kids to feel how I felt when we got the house.”
STUDIO ALBUMS
Cole World: The Sideline Story 2011 (American Music Awards Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Album Nominated)
Born Sinner (2013)
2014 Forest Hills Drive 2014 (Won Album of the Year at the BET Hiphop music awards 2015. Billboard Music Awards: 2015 Won Top Rap Album. 2014 award Best Rap Album Nominated. American Music Awards 2015 Nominated)
4 Your Eyez Only 2016 (Nominated at the BET Hiphop music awards 2017 in the category Album of the Year)
KOD (2018) (an initialism for Kids on Drugs, King Overdosed and Kill Our Demons) is the fifth studio album by American rapper J. Cole. It was released on April 20, 2018
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
Discography
BET Hiphop Award winnings: 2011 Friday Night Lights Best Mixtape Won. 2014 “Crooked Smile” (featuring TLC) Impact Track Won. Best Hip Hop Video Nominated. 2014 “Love Yourz” Impact Track Won
Grammy Awards nominated songs: 014 “Power Trip” (featuring Miguel) Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. 2016”Planez” (with Jeremih) Best R&B Performance. “Apparently” Best Rap Performance
TV Video Music Award songs nominated: 2013 “Power Trip” (featuring Miguel) Best Hip-Hop Video. 2014 “Crooked Smile” (featuring TLC) Best Video with a Social Message.
American Music Awards
Filmography (Film and television)
2015 J. Cole: Road to Homecoming-Himself, 2015 Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming- Himself, 2016 Eyez[158] Himself, 2017 J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only – Himself, 2017 Raising Bertie-Executive producer
No 1: Power Trip featuring Miguel: off Born Sinner album released in 2013
Grammy awards nominated Best Rap/Sung Collaboration 2014. MTV Video Music Award songs nominated: 2013 Best Hip-Hop Video.
CONCLUSION
He was inspired mostly by rappers Canibus, Nas, Tupac and Eminem, Cole developed a love for telling stories in his lyrics. He’s been influenced by these artistes literally while calling Tupac his favorite rapper as well as Kanye West being his mentor
I mean Rapper J Cole idea that Nigerians no longer like rap music was given a blow at Friday night’s Castle Light Unlocks concert headlined by J. Cole in April in a bid to test the audience, he went back to an older song, and sure enough the crowd followed. He said using his words “I was f**king up by not coming earlier to Nigeria” He was surprised and promised to be back in Nigeria soon. Now if his first Lagos concert provoked some soul-searching for the genre in Nigeria, we sure he’s going to do more of that genre for the universe henceforth
