J Cole Digital Biography

GOVERNMENT NAME: JERMAINE LAMARR COLE

SUN SIGN: AQUARIUS

BIRTHDAY: JANUARY 28

HOMETOWN: FAYETTEVILLE, NC

He was born Jermaine Lamarr Cole on January 28, 1985 in Frankfurt, Germany on to a European American mother and an African American father. He moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina with his mother when his father left the family. 

Cole fell into rapping at the age of 12 when his cousin from Louisiana spent the summer in Fayetteville, showing him the basics of rhyming. He was instantly hooked. From there he delved deep into the music of hip hop luminaries including Tupac Shakur, Nas and OutKast, taking from them a love for telling stories with an unbridled rigor. Seizing every opportunity to write, at age 15 J. Cole found himself with composition notebooks full of rhymes but no beats of his own to lay them on. Determined to create original songs, he begged his mother for a beat machine so he could produce music solely for himself. She granted his wish and from there, a young Cole spent all his free time creating sounds and songs that would lay the foundation for what his style has evolved to today. Cole spent the remainder of his teen years as Therapist, posting his music online under the moniker. 

In pursuit of a better chance, he moved to New York City as soon as he graduated from high school He enrolled in St. John's University on an academic scholarship where he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude. He was working as a bill collector in the city but his passion laid somewhere else. Cole first came up with a mixtape called "The Come Up" in 2007.

With only courage and determination, Cole stood outside Jay-Z's office building for hours to give him his demo tape. But when the big rapper came out, Cole was shunned. But luck came not long before that. He received a text from an associate who told him that he has a business meeting with Jay-Z to attend. 

Jay-Z apparently heard his song "Lights Please". Cole was officially the first artist to be signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation. "I got the record deal," Cole recalled, "but I still had to learn and improve as far as being ready to drop an album." He was then featured in his mentor's album "The Blueprint 3" on the track "A Star Is Born." From there, Cole was a known collaborator, working with Wale, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, B.o.B and a lot more. 

His first single "Who Dat" appeared on the mixtape "The Warm Up". He supported the album with a college tour in 2010. His third official mixtape "Friday Night Lights" was released in November that year, featuring names like Drake and Wale. He then joined Drake as his supporting act in the Light Dreams and Nightmares UK Tour in early 2011. He went on supporting Tinie Tempah and Rihanna in the next few months ahead.

All the while, Cole was preparing for his first studio album. "All singles done. Album ridiculous. Title Perfect. Music incredible. Thank you for your patience. Let's change the game," he tweeted in May 2011. The album is called "Cole World: The Sideline Story" and was released on September 27, 2011. It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 200 in its first week on sale.

On October 24, 2011 during an interview with Hot 106’s Rise & Grind morning show, Cole revealed he had begun working on his second studio album, with hopes of releasing it in June 2012. He had also stated that the album would consist of songs that failed to make his debut: "I don’t know how many, but I got songs that didn't make the last album that are automatically going to make this one,” he said, revealing the release date. “June. End of June, maybe June." On November 6, 7 and 8, Cole was the supporting act for Tinie Tempah, appearing at Bournemouth International Centre; Liverpool Echo Arena, Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales; LG Arena, Birmingham, England; SECC Arena, Glasgow, Scotland; and MEN Arena, Manchester. J. Cole was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2012 Grammys but lost to Bon Iver.

J. Cole played for the Eastern Team in the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. On February 24, 2012 J. Cole reached two million followers on Twitter, he celebrated by releasing the song "Grew Up Fast." On March 1, 2012, J. Cole returned to his home town, Fayetteville, North Carolina. To celebrate his return he released the song "Visionz of Home" and launched an event titled "Dreamville Weekend" to inspire the youth of his hometown to achieve great things. J. Cole performed for the first time in Africa during the Big Brother Africa 7 opening ceremony on 6 May 2012, alongside Camp Mulla, P-Square, Naeto C, Flavour N'abania, Davido and Aemo E'Face.

On May 14, J.Cole announced that he is working on a collaborative album with Kendrick Lamar saying in an interview with Bootleg Kev that "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together." The project will be more focused on and released once Born Sinner is released. On July 26, he returned to Twitter after a 100-day absence and went on to reveal and release his new song "The Cure" in where he hints at a new album. On October 20, he announced at a live show that his second album is complete and he's waiting until after Lamar releases good kid, m.A.A.d city to reveal it.

On November 5, Cole revealed the title of his sophomore album, Born Sinner, as well as a scheduled release date of January 28, 2013, via ustream. On November 13, 2012, Cole released a promotional single for the album entitled "Miss America." Cole stated he hoped "Miss America" would shift music in a different direction, adding that he knew it wouldn't be a big radio hit. He elaborated further, saying, "To me, 'Miss America' shifts things a little bit, it changes the conversation it takes it in a more aggressive direction, more raw, more social commentary... Any type of commentary is good compared to what a normal single is these days. That's my aim, is to shift culture slightly, change the conversation. Nobody expects that for your first single." The song would not go on to make the cut for the standard edition of Born Sinner. However, it would be featured on the deluxe edition of the album, alongside five other tracks which collectively created Truly Yours 3, the third member of the Truly Yours trilogy.

Having experienced a healthy amount of success early on, for Born Sinner Cole made a creative return to the routines that initially got him his deal. "I got back to what it used to be, straight making music in the bedroom. No studio," he says.

The shift resulted in "Power Trip," Born Sinner’s multi-layered first single featuring Grammy Award-winning R&B vocalist Miguel. Cole released the song on Valentine’s Day 2013 and already has cracked the top 10 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rap charts. The song’s melodic sample-based instrumental creates the perfect sound bed for Cole’s deep lyrical whims which center around the complex feelings that love can create. Its groundbreaking video only enhances the experience, telling a dark tale of obsession and murder.

"This single is so organic. It happened at a time where I needed to get away from the studio," Cole says. "I just start cooking up in the house. I started with the drums, added the sample, added the music, then I added that percussion and bass line and started humming melodies. That was a fun night, probably the most fun I’ve had in a long time making a song."

Cole’s story begins with music, but extends so far outside of the recording studio. In February he was invited to Harvard University to spearhead an hour-long lecture titled "The Next Move: A Conversation With J. Cole," where he spoke with students about his early influences, dreams of playing professional basketball in the NBA and lyrical inspiration. It’s that same story that inspired all of the music on Born Sinner, which Cole produced in its entirety. "The things that I’ve been through is the reason for that, it all makes me stronger," he says. "All that will be told on the album, people will get it."

Following the originally planned release date of January 28, 2013, Cole had announced a set release date of June 25, 2013 for Born Sinner. However, when it was announced that Kanye West's Yeezus would be released just one week earlier on June 18, Cole moved the release date of Born Sinner up a week in order to compete with West, later commenting, "This is art, and I can't compete against the Kanye West celebrity and the status that he's earned just from being a genius," Cole added. "But I can put my name in the hat and tell you that I think my album is great and you be the judge and you decide."

Born Sinner sold 297,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, finishing approximately 30,000 copies short of Kanye West's Yeezus. As of September 19, 2013, the album has sold 599,000 copies in the United States. He released two more singles in support of the album, "Crooked Smile" featuring TLC and "Forbidden Fruit" featuring Kendrick Lamar and "She Knows". As of December 2016, the album had sold 796,000 copies in the United States.

2014–2016: 2014 Forest Hills Drive

On August 15, 2014, Cole released "Be Free" in response to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Three days later, he visited the city in order to meet with protesters and activists who were gathered at the site of his shooting, discussing the civil unrest that was taking place within the city. He performed the track with an additional verse at the Late Show with David Letterman on December 10. On November 16, Cole released a video announcing that his third studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, would be released on December 9. The video featured footage regarding the album's composition, as well as revealed that the album's name was derived from the address of Cole's childhood home. He announced that the album would include no lead singles and have little promotion, but was supported by four promotional singles; "Apparently", "Wet Dreamz", "No Role Modelz", and "Love Yourz". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 upon release, selling 353,000 copies in its first week.

Cole announced the "Forest Hills Drive Tour" on February 13, 2015. The tour served as the backdrop for his first live album, Forest Hills Drive: Live. The album recorded during the Fayetteville shows of the tour, and was released on Cole's 31st birthday. On March 31, 2014 Forest Hills Drive was certified platinum. As of December 2016, the album had sold 1.24 million copies in the United States. 2014 Forest Hills Drive won Top Rap Album at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards and Album of the Year at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards. The album was nominated at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album. The single "Apparently'" was also nominated for Best Rap Performance.

On December 15, 2015, Cole announced a documentary series titled J. Cole: Road to Homecoming, ahead of his HBO special Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming. The series included five episodes as well as featuring guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Wale, Rihanna, Pusha T, Big Sean, Jay Z, and Drake. All episodes were released weekly and were available for free on Vimeo until January 9. The concert film Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming aired on January 9, 2016, which was filmed during the final show of his Forest Hills Drive Tour at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, North Carolina. On January 28, 2016, Cole released Forest Hills Drive: Live as well as the music video for "Love Yourz", from concert film.

2016–2017: 4 Your Eyez Only

On July 29, 2016, DJ Khaled released his ninth studio album, Major Key. Cole is featured on the track "Jermaine's Interlude". "Said all I could say, now I play with thoughts of retirement" is a direct quote from the track that caused some of Cole's fans to worry about him and his music career. In an interview with Genius, Doctur Dot of the Atlanta duo EarthGang explained that the song was originally a nine-minute posse cut, he said, "We were just trying to get Bas to **** with the song, but Cole was like, 'I can't resist this beat,' so he hit the weed for the first time in a long time." "He overthinks on weed but we were in the garage smoking a blunt, the beat was running in the background. We stacked the hook up, we all had verses on it, it was a posse record and was like, nine verses long." On November 4, 2016, Cole performed at Jay Z and Beyoncé's Hillary Clinton Rally in Cleveland, Ohio, along with Big Sean and Chance the Rapper. On November 8, 2016, Spillage Village released the official version of "Jermaine's Interlude", called "Can't Call It". The song features Cole, EarthGang, Bas and JID.

On December 1, 2016, the artwork and a track list for Cole's fourth album, titled 4 Your Eyez Only, were shown on iTunes available for pre-order, with a release date for December 9, 2016. On December 2, 2016, Cole released a 40-minute documentary titled Eyez, on Tidal. It features behind-the-scenes footage of Cole and collaborators working on the album, including two music videos for the tracks "False Prophets" and "Everybody Dies"; neither song was included on the album. On December 5, "False Prophets" and "Everybody Dies" were released as singles to iTunes store and other streaming services. 4 Your Eyez Only debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 492,000 album-equivalent units, of which 363,000 were pure album sales, becoming Cole's fourth number one album. The track "Deja Vu" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 7 without being released as a single, becoming J. Cole's highest charting song. All 10 songs from 4 Your Eyez Only debuted in the top 40 of the Hot 100, after only having four top 40 hits as a solo artist. "False Prophets" and "Everybody Dies" both charted also. Cole achieved twelve simultaneous Hot 100 entries in a single week. "Deja Vu" was released as the album's first single on January 10, 2017. On January 12, 2017, 4 Your Eyez Only was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). On April 7, 2017 the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

On January 16, 2017, Cole surprisingly released a track titled, "High for Hours" via his SoundCloud. The song was produced by Elite and Cam O'Bi. The song was released on the iTunes store as a single on January 18. Cole announced the 4 Your Eyez Only World Tour on February 21, 2017, the tour included 62 dates across North America, Europe and Australia. On March 24, 2017 HBO announced a documentary titled, J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only, the film aired April 15, 2017. The film was directed by Cole and Scott Lazer. It is now available on YouTube.

2018: KOD

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 tracklist show twelve tracks and two features, both by Cole's alter ego, Kill Edward. Cole had mentioned that KOD has 3 meanings, Kids on Drugs, King Overdosed, and Kill Our Demons. The cover art for KOD was done by a Detroit artist named Kamau Haroon who goes by the name Sixmau. The album touches on many topics including drug abuse, addiction, depression, and greed.

In the United States, on the day of its release, KOD broke the previous record for Views by Drake in 2016 by receiving 64.5 million streams on Apple Music. It accumulated 36.7 million streams on Spotify in its first 24 hours as well. Additionally, the titled track also surpassed Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" by 0.4 million streams on its first day. 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 debut three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with "ATM" (at 6), "Kevin's Heart" (8), and "KOD" (10). The remainder of the album also debuted in the Hot 100, totaling to twelve songs on the chart. "KOD" was released as the album's first single, on May 8, 2018. Cole released music videos for the songs "ATM" and "Kevin's Heart", both videos was directed by Cole and Scott Lazer. "ATM" impacted US rhythmic contemporary radio on July 31, 2018, as the album's second single. Songs from the album were featured in the official 2018 NBA Playoffs and the NBA Finals promotion for ESPN. On April 27, 2018 it was announced that Cole was working on another project titled The Fall Off, Cole said that he planned to release The Fall Off before he recorded KOD. Cole also confirmed that he is working on a Kill Edward album. On May 14, 2018, KOD was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 album-equivalent units in the US. The album has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with one million album-equivalent units in the United States.

Cole announced the KOD Tour on May 8, 2018, Young Thug, Jaden Smith, EarthGang and Kill Edward served as the supporting acts. The tour will include 34 North American dates, starting in Miami, on August 9 and concluding in Boston, on October 10, 2018. Cole performed "Intro" and "Friends" at the 2018 BET Awards on June 24, 2018. Singer Daniel Caesar performed part of "Intro" and the chorus to "Friends", rapper Wale was also part of the set.

On August 7, 2018, Cole released a single titled, "Album of the Year (Freestyle)". The single 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". In an interview for Billboard in September 2018, Cole said he plans to take off 2019 from touring to finish work on The Off Season, The Fall Off, and the Kill Edward project.

2019: Revenge of the Dreamers III

On January 6, 2019, Cole took to Twitter to announce Dreamville's compilation album Revenge of the Dreamers III by uploading a gold poster-like invitation. Recording sessions took place in Atlanta beginning January 6 through January 16, 2019. Throughout the 10-days of recording, invitations were shared by the entire Dreamville roster, among other artists and producers outside of Dreamville. A total of 343 artists and producers were invited to the sessions including, Big K.R.I.T., Mike Will Made It, DJ Khaled, Swizz Beatz, Tay Keith, T.I, Rick Ross, 9th Wonder and Wale, among others. On January 23, 2019, Cole released his first lead single since 2013 titled, "Middle Child". With only one day of tracking, "Middle Child" debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The following week, the song peaked at number 4, making it Cole's highest charting song. Cole performed at the 2019 NBA All-Star Game for its halftime show on February 17, 2019 in Charlotte. He performed "Middle Child", "A Lot", "ATM", "Love Yourz" and "No Role Modelz". On May 23, 2019, Cole was featured alongside American rapper and singer Travis Scott on American rapper Young Thug's single "The London", which would become the lead single from Thug's debut studio album, So Much Fun.

On June 12, 2019, the first of two sets of dual singles from Revenge of the Dreamers III were released: "Down Bad" featuring Cole, JID, Bas, EarthGang, and Young Nudy, and "Got Me" featuring Ari Lennox, Omen, Ty Dolla Sign, and Dreezy. On July 1, 2019, the second set of dual singles from the album were released: "LamboTruck" featuring Cozz, Reason, and Childish Major and "Costa Rica" featuring Bas, JID, Guapdad 4000, Reese Laflare, Jace, Mez, Smokepurpp, Buddy, and Ski Mask the Slump God. Dreamville announced the album's release date on the same day and was selling limited merchandise on July 1, related to the album. On July 2, 2019, Dreamville Presents: REVENGE was released on the label's official YouTube account, a film documenting the album's recording sessions in Atlanta.

Revenge of the Dreamers III debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 115,000 album-equivalent units, of which 24,000 were pure album sales, earning Cole his sixth consecutive number-one album in the country. The album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, while "Middle Child" and "Down Bad" were nominated for Best Rap Performance. Cole's collaboration with 21 Savage "A Lot" received a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, making this his first Grammy Award win.

2020–present: The Off-Season and The Fall Off

On June 16, 2020, J. Cole released his first song of 2020, "Snow on tha Bluff", a politically-charged track released soon after the murder of George Floyd that led to disagreements with and criticism from Noname and other rappers. On July 23, 2020, Cole released two songs, "The Climb Back" and "Lion King on Ice", which serves as the first two songs from his upcoming album The Fall Off. The singles were released on the promotional EP, Lewis Street.

On December 29, 2020, Cole took to Instagram to post a photo where he documented a list titled, "The Fall Off Era". On the list crossed out, was features and Revenge of the Dreamers III. Also listed, but not crossed out was two projects, The Off-Season and It's a Boy, which he announced would be released ahead of The Fall Off. The caption of the post read: "I still got some goals I gotta check off for' I scram..." On May 4, 2021, J. Cole officially revealed the release date and album artwork of The Off-Season, his sixth studio album. The album's lead single, "Interlude", was released on May 7.

The Off-Season was released on May 14, 2021. The album was co-executively produced by T-Minus and featured guest appearances from Morray, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Bas, and 6LACK. It received positive reviews from critics and topped the US Billboard 200, selling 282,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, earning Cole his sixth consecutive number-one album in the country. Four songs from The Off-Season debuted in the top ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, with "My Life" (at 2), "Amari" (at 5), "Pride Is the Devil" (at 7), and "95 South" (at 8). "Interlude" debuted at number eight the previous week giving the album five top ten singles.

Basketball career

Cole played basketball at Terry Sanford High School in North Carolina. With an academic scholarship, he tried out as a walk-on at St. John's University and was one of 10 call-back players during his sophomore year. In 2012, Cole played for the Eastern Team during the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. In 2013, Cole told Sports Illustrated, "Sports is where it started for me. It parallels my life. Rap is such a competitive thing. That's why I have to watch sports. I got to keep up. It's my life in just another form."

On July 20, 2020, Cole released an article for The Players' Tribune, writing about his goals after graduating college to eventually playing professional basketball saying "if I can blow up in the next three years, that means I'll only be 27. That still might give me enough time to train and pursue a professional basketball career. I'll work hard enough to go play overseas and then try to work my way to the NBA." On July 31, 2020, Cole released his debut signature shoe in collaboration with Puma called the PUMA RS-Dreamer.

On May 10, 2021, Cole signed a contract with the Rwanda-based Patriots Basketball Club in the Basketball Africa League. Cole was also featured on the cover of the American basketball magazine SLAM, for their May 2021 issue. Cole made his professional debut on May 16 against the Rivers Hoopers, finishing with three points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. In three games with the team, he scored five points, had three assists and five rebounds in 45 minutes of gameplay. He was only under contract for a minimum of three games. He left the team after playing the three games.

Controversies

In August 2013, Cole and Diddy were reportedly involved in an altercation at a 2013 MTV Video Music Awards after party in New York City. Reports said the incident started when Diddy tried to confront rapper Kendrick Lamar over the "King of New York" claim in his "Control" verse. Diddy allegedly attempted to pour a drink on Lamar, and Cole intervened. The two started arguing and Cole and Diddy allegedly got into an altercation, which then led to problems between their respective crews. After a brief scuffle, both crews separated. Ibrahim Hamad, a close friend of Cole's and president of Dreamville Records took to Twitter to address the rumors saying: "The Internet is a crazy place you ***** reporting shit with no facts, Cole ain't get thrown out no party and he damn sure ain’t get beat up", he continued saying, "Ain't gon go into details about last night but get the facts right first before you rush to report some **** for some extra blog clicks". A few months after the incident, Cole and Diddy allegedly squashed the beef when both were seen in a video promoting Revolt, joking about the incident.

In May 2020, in the midst of the George Floyd protests, rapper Noname made a tweet panning rappers who discussed the struggles of black people in their music but had yet to publicly speak out on social media regarding the protests or Black Lives Matter. The tweet read:

"Poor black folks all over the country are putting their bodies on the line in protest for our collective safety and y’all favorite top selling rappers not even willing to put a tweet up. niggas whole discographies be about black plight and they no where to be found".

Many assumed her tweet was aimed at Cole and Kendrick Lamar, both of whom had yet to post on social media about the protests at the time of her tweet. On June 16, 2020, Cole released a song titled, "Snow on tha Bluff" addressing an unnamed woman, assumed to be Noname, while also touching on police brutality and race relations during the George Floyd protests. Shortly after the song's release, NoName tweeted "QUEEN TONE!!!!!!", referencing a lyric from the song. She later deleted the tweet. Many other artists defended Noname, including Ari Lennox, who is signed to Cole's Dreamville label. Lennox thanked Noname "for giving af about us constantly and endlessly", saying she appreciates "everything you [Noname] put out to the world". Rapper Chance the Rapper, criticized Cole, calling the song "not constructive" and saying it "undermines all the work Noname has done". Cole eventually addressed backlash in a series of tweets, defending his statements in the song and encouraging listeners to follow Noname on social media. Two days after the release of "Snow on tha Bluff", Noname released "Song 33", in which she alluded to Cole writing about her in the wake of the protests, rapping: "I guess the ego hurt now / It's time to go to work, wow, look at him go / He really 'bout to write about me when the world is in smokes? When there's people in trees? When George was beggin' for his mother sayin' he couldn't breathe? He thought to write about me?". Cole acknowledged the track shortly after its release, sharing a link to the song on Twitter. Cole and Noname previously collaborated in 2015, on the song "Warm Enough" from Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment's Surf album.

Personal life

In a January 2016 interview with director Ryan Coogler, Cole revealed that he was married. His wife, Melissa Heholt, who met Cole while they were students at St. John’s University, is the Executive Director of the Dreamville Foundation. Also in a May 2018 interview with radio host Angie Martinez, Cole stated that he and his wife have a son together. In 2019, he publicly spoke about his son. On July 20, 2020, Cole revealed he has two children.

In August 2020, it was also reported by Master P that Cole was training to tryout for the NBA.

(sources: aceshowbiz.com, sing365.com, jcolemusic.com, wikipedia.org)

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