During the week I noticed Twitter buzzing with an abundance of news and events as usual. However, one thing really caught my attention: Hip Hop was celebrating its 45th birthday. The start was marked by the “Back to School Jam” held in 1973 in the Bronx, NY. 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, in the recreation room is where it all began. Many thoughts went through my mind, but number one was DJ Kool Herc, the event organizer at the time. Did he envision 45 years later hip hop growing from that Bronx housing project to the worldwide music genre it is today? Of course, with the growth has come an evolution into something different. It had to change after 45 years of existence. Today we have many artists and forms of hip hop, along with several worldwide megastars who push hip hop even further into the mainstream. This week I have an opportunity to feature one of the top rappers in the game today, J Cole.
If you were asked to name the top five active rappers today, I doubt if you could not arguably include J Cole. Of course many might debate that fact based upon overall rapping skills or lyrical criteria. When based upon notoriety, J Cole has to be very close to the top.
The thirty-three year old hip hop star was not even born as hip hop started in the Bronx. Therefore, he most definitely is part of that evolution of hip hop I mentioned earlier. In fact, so many of the stars today grew up listening to some of those “founding fathers” of hip hop. It was necessary in order to push it even further ahead. He eventually was signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint in 2009. He described in an interview with Steve Lobel, “Jay [Z] was a mentor before I ever signed to him.” “I studied his moves that much…I got to go on tour with him and steal a lot of gems. That’s how you supposed to do it. You’re supposed to learn and take pieces from the greatest. So, Jay was my mentor before I ever signed to him. And now that I signed to him it’s just a blessing to be able to hit him for advice and get that real 20 years of experience or however long he been in the game. It’s priceless.””
J Cole has an interesting life story as well as his career. As with other artists, his background gives us insight into his artistic direction.
Jermaine Lamarr Cole was born on January 28, 1985, at an American military base in Frankfurt, West Germany. His father is an African-American veteran, who served in the U.S. Army, and his mother, Kay, is a white European American who worked as a postal worker for the United States Postal Service. Cole’s father later abandoned the family during his youth, prompting his mother to move Cole and his brother, Zach Cole, to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cole grew up in a multi-ethnic environment, and when asked about how closely his ethnicity impacts him, Cole commented, “I can identify with white people, because I know my mother, her side of the family, who I love. But at the end of the day, [I’ve] never felt white. I can identify [with white people] but never have I felt like I’m one of them. I identify more with what I look like, because that’s how I got treated [but] not necessarily in a negative way”
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. During this period, Cole heightened emphasis on improving his production skills, later beginning initial production under the pseudonym Therapist. Cole later collaborated with local group Bomm Sheltuh, rapping and producing as a member of the group.
J Cole was a very good high school student. He graduated with a 4.2 GPA and decided to attend St. John University, feeling that he would have a better chance at a career in music in New York City. He graduated magna cum laude in 2007, with a 3.8 GPA. Despite graduating, Cole would officially receive his degree during a homecoming concert in 2015, revealing that he had owed money for a library book, causing the university to hold back from granting him his degree.
J Cole went right to work on his music. The Come Up was the first mixtape from North Carolina rapper J. Cole released on May 4, 2007, hosted by DJ OnPoint. From that point J Cole’s career really took off. He released his second mixtape, The Warm Up, on June 15, 2009 to positive reviews. Cole appeared on Jay Z’s album The Blueprint 3 (2009), on the track “A Star Is Born.” He is featured on both Wale’s début album, Attention Deficit (2009) and mixtape Back to the Feature (2009), respectively. In January 2010, Cole, along with label mate Jay Electronica and Mos Def appeared on Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek’s single, “Just Begun” for the follow-up of Reflection Eternal’s album Train of Thought (2000), titled Revolutions Per Minute (2010). Cole also appeared on B.o.B’s mixtape May 25th (2010), on the song “Gladiators”, produced by The Alchemist.
Now move ahead eight years to the present time. On April 16, 2018, J. Cole announced a surprise free event for fans at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. The event turned out to be a listening session for his forthcoming album, titled KOD, which was released on April 20, 2018. Cole held a second listening session in London the next day. The album’s cover and track list show twelve tracks and two features, both by Cole’s alter ego, Kill Edward. J. Cole had mentioned that KOD has 3 meanings behind the title of the album. Kids On Drugs, Kill Our Demons and King Overdosed. The cover art for KOD was done by a Detroit artist named Kamau Haroon who goes by the name Sixmau. The cover art contains images of children using drugs, hence the title name KOD. J. Cole mentioned that the album was in no way trying to glorify addiction. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning 397,000 album-equivalent units, including 174,000 in pure sales, making it Cole’s fifth number one album. J. Cole also became the first act to simultaneously début three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with “ATM” (at 6), “Kevin’s Heart” (8), and “KOD” (10).
That brings us to last week Thursday night, as J Cole began his KOD tour right here in Miami, Fl. The review written by Nick Mojica in XXL detailed the event. “The night started with sets from Thugger and Earthgang and even a surprise appearance from Will Smith, who joined Jaden to perform the “Icon (Remix).” But the night’s main event was J. Cole, who performed tracks from his new KOD album, as well as songs from 2014 Forest Hills Drive and more. One of Cole’s best performances on the first stop of the tour was a rendition of “Neighbors,” which Cole rapped while footage of White people who have called the cops on Black people for trivial issues played in the background.”
The start of the KOD tour was not the only big news this week for J Cole. Last week Tuesday Cole released a freestyle titled, “Album of the Year” over the instrumental to Nas’ and the Bravehearts’ 2001 single, “Oochie Wally”. The freestyle was accompanied by a music video, which premiered on WorldStarHipHop. Cole also announced a new project titled, The Off Season, which he plans to release ahead of his next studio album, The Fall Off. In the description to the video, it reads: “The Off Season coming soon… All roads lead to The Fall Off – Cole”.
It never ends for J Cole!