J. Cole
J. Cole is an American rapper, record producer, singer, and songwriter signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label.Jermaine Lamarr Cole was born on January 28, 1985, at a U.S. Army base in Frankfurt, Germany to an African-American father who has a soldier and a white German mother working as a postal worker. Cole’s father left young Jermaine and his mother at an early age and she moved with him and his older brother, Zach, to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the family lived in trailer parks as she struggled to make ends meet. Eventually, Cole’s mother married again, but the marriage would also result in another divorce as Cole was about to leave for college in New York. As a result of the divorce, the family lost their new home and his stepfather became abusive; particularly toward Zach, while Cole’s mother became heavily addicted to crack. It was in Fayetteville that Cole's passion for music by the time he was 12. Upon receiving a music sampler from his mother, Cole became producing beats. He joined a few local small time groups and started practicing rapping and making beats under the name as Blaza, then as Therapist. He held down a number of part-time jobs as a teenager while he honed his production skills, including a stint at an ice hockey rink where he had to dress up as a kangaroo mascot. After graduating from high school, Cole moved to New York and attended St John’s University, graduating magna cum laude in 2007 with a degree in communications.
In 2007 Cole released his self-produced debut mixtape; The Come Up, and his second mixtape, The Warm Up (2009), A track called "Lights Please" from attracted the attention of producer and music executive Mark Pitts, who played it to Jay Z. Ironically, Cole had attempted to give Jay Z a copy himself, after waiting outside a studio to meet his idol for three hours; only to be shunned by the rap-superstar. However, Pitts was able to let Jay Z give Cole a chance and once Jay Z heard it; Cole would sign to Roc Nation and be featured in Jay Z’s song “A Star is Born” on the Blueprint 3. A third mixtape in 2010, Friday Night Lights; considered to be one of the best projects by J. Cole and as a debut artist. With great story-telling, melodies, and guest features such as the love-seducing song “In the Morning” with Drake. The third mixtape would put Cole’s music and name on notice and the release of his debut album; Cole World: The Sideline Story would go on to be certified platinum. Critics praised the album and Cole as a promising artist, with the L.A. Times praising the “’satisfying confidence’” of his rhymes and the “’slickly inventive beats.’”
Cole's sophomore album, Born Sinner, came out in June 2013, it was another success and an album that was warmly, but not ecstatically, received. And the delay of the album’s released made many fans hope that it would exceed expectations-which was not the case.
However, a year later 2014 Forest Hills Drive came out in December 2014 and premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 even with the lack of singles and marketing for the project. The album won several awards, including Billboard Rap Album of the Year, and was later certified double platinum with no guest appearances. No artist had gone double platinum with no guest appearances in over 25 years until J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive album. In retrospect the album is considered one of Cole’s best works ever while others praised the album’s concept, song-writing, and songs; some critics felt his political stances in real life were not reflected on the album. Rolling Stone magazine stated, “It’s time for the Cole who marches in the streets to start showing up on record,” referring to Cole’s visit to Ferguson in August 2014 to meet those protesting the shooting of Michael Brown. The events of police brutality and gun violence would influence his next project.
His fourth album, 4 Your Eyez Only, would be another commercial success as his previous works and almost being at the “peak” of the rapper’s Forest Hills Drive level of work and hunger in rap. The album went on to become No. 1 in the charts and the album and double platinum again with no guest appearances. The album also took on a style of “conscious rap” bringing awareness to listeners about the current state of society specifically on the issues of police brutality, gang violence, and the consequences of those themes. The album would also be a dedication to his late friend James McMillan and his loved ones, a young 20-year-old friend of Cole who became a victim in the issues mentioned.
The rapper’s recent album KOD is his fifth studio album and although not as superior, it would still become a commercial success shattering Spotify's opening-day streaming record en route to the Billboard top spot. In addition, Cole had become the first artist to debut three simultaneous singles on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Kevin's Heart," "ATM" and KOD's title track all surfacing on the chart and becoming major hits.
