Welcome to Cole World!

Written by Amanda Denett

"I know my callin', its in my blood to do this music thing." Boy oh boy is J. Cole right. Raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Jermaine says music became his passion around the age of 12. Like most kids, he grew up idolizing the "Greats": Nas, Jay-Z, Andre 3000, and 2pac. After graduating High School young Cole was looking for a ticket out of Fayetteville. He found that ticket through attending St. Johns University in Queens, New York, where he later graduated from with a Bachelor's degree in Communications.

Throughout his college years Cole never lost his passion for music, but it was during 2007, his senior year, that he started to take his music seriously and released his first mixtape called "The Come Up". This mixtape is all about the struggle, making it extremely relatable to every single college student out there trying to make it.  Then in 2009, J. Cole dropped his second mixtape called " The Warm Up". This mixtape blew up and eventually got into the hands of Mr. Hov, who after hearing a few tracks like Lights Please and Grown Simba , signed J. Cole to Roc Nation, making him the first rapper on the label.

With Cole being on Roc Nation he was then asked to be on the track "A Star is Born" which was featured on Jay's latest album "The Blueprint 3". This was a defining moment in Cole's career, of which he admits is all so surreal, considering a few years ago he waited to meet Jay outside of a recording studio and go shut down when he attempted to promote his stuff.

A few months later after signing to Roc Nation, Cole released his first single called "Who Dat". So ... he's got the record deal and he's got the single. Now the big question is ... When is the debut album coming? Well the truth is that Cole's first single didn't get the response he had hoped for and we don't really know Cole's capabilities as of yet. He released many album drop dates which obviously kept on getting pushed back. This became a problem for his fans because they were eager to hear what was coming. With that said, Cole released his third mixtape back in November called "Friday Night Lights". He explains that the title embodies that J. Cole character, showing how the high school basketball player feels before the "big game". There are feelings of excitement with a little bit of nervousness, something Cole is definitely experiencing right now.

J. Cole without a doubt is a breath of fresh air to the hip hop game. We have witnessed many new-comers rise, like Drake who wins over the ladies with his smooth lyrics and melodies, Kid Cudi who has the talent to make listeners look at things in a different perspective, and Nicki Minaj who is well, Nicki Minaj. So, what does J. Cole have? His lyrics, which are so relatable to the young generation because they're all about wanting to make it and not being afraid to take risks. His music, which doesn't have the auto-tune or the singing, just straight up rap, and is something unique and something that might even surprise those critics who believe that Hip Hop is dead. Cole has yet to drop an album release date/title, but he assures his fans that it will happen this year. I guess we just have to sit back, relax, and wait to enter Cole World.

P.S.-- Today marks Jermaine Cole's 26th birthday! Happy Birthday Cole! Keep killin 'em!


To download J. Cole's mixtapes: Click Here