J. Cole

Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985), known professionally as J. Cole, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. Born in Frankfurt, West Germany, to a military father and postal worker mother, Cole was raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina after his father abandoned the family. His musical journey began at age 12 when he started rapping, later receiving an ASR-X musical sampler as a Christmas gift, which launched his production career under the pseudonym "Therapist." After graduating high school with a 4.2 GPA, Cole attended St. John's University on scholarship, graduating magna cum laude in 2007 with a communications degree while developing his musical skills.Cole gained recognition with his debut mixtape "The Come Up" (2007), which caught the attention of Jay-Z, leading to his signing with Roc Nation in 2009 as the label's first artist. He released two additional mixtapes—"The Warm Up" (2009) and "Friday Night Lights" (2010)—before his debut studio album "Cole World: The Sideline Story" (2011) debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 218,000 copies in its first week. His sophomore album "Born Sinner" (2013) was notably released on the same day as Kanye West's "Yeezus" after Cole moved up his release date to compete directly, demonstrating his ambition within the industry.Cole's artistic evolution became evident with "2014 Forest Hills Drive" (2014), which achieved platinum status with no features and minimal promotion, shifting away from pop-oriented sounds toward more conscious themes. This direction continued with "4 Your Eyez Only" (2016), which sold an estimated 500,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, and "KOD" (2018), which made history when Cole became the first artist since The Beatles to simultaneously place six songs in the Billboard Hot 100's top 20. His sixth album, "The Off-Season" (2021), further cemented his commercial success, with "My Life" featuring 21 Savage and Morray peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance.Cole achieved his first #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with Drake's "First Person Shooter" in 2023. His discography includes the recent mixtape "Might Delete Later" (2024), with "The Fall Off" announced as an upcoming studio album. Throughout his career, Cole has cited Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, Eminem, Nas, and André 3000 as his primary influences, developing a style characterized by introspective lyrics and social consciousness. His work has earned him two Grammy Awards from seventeen nominations, a Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Album, three Soul Train Music Awards, and eight BET Hip Hop Awards.In 2007, Cole founded Dreamville Records with Ibrahim Hamad, developing a roster that includes JID, Ari Lennox, Bas, and EarthGang. The label's compilation album "Revenge of the Dreamers III" (2019) debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. As a self-taught producer, Cole has created beats for artists including Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson, Young Thug, and Mac Miller, while handling much of the production for his own projects, demonstrating versatility across all aspects of music creation.Cole's business ventures include becoming a minority shareholder in Jay-Z's streaming service Tidal in 2015 and partnering with Puma in 2020 to release his signature basketball shoe "RS-Dreamer." His philanthropic efforts through The Dreamville Foundation, established in 2011, provide school supplies to children and sponsor community events in Fayetteville. In 2014, he purchased his childhood home and converted it into rent-free housing for single mothers. The annual Dreamville Festival, launched in 2018 in Raleigh, North Carolina, has become a significant cultural event featuring established artists and emerging talent while supporting local communities.Cole briefly pursued a professional basketball career, playing for the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League in 2021 (averaging 1.7 points in 3 games) and the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022 (averaging 2.4 points in 4 games). In 2022, he was named the cover athlete for NBA 2K23's Dreamer Edition. In his personal life, Cole married his college sweetheart Melissa Heholt in 2015, who serves as Executive Director of the Dreamville Foundation, and the couple has two children. In November 2024, Cole launched "Inevitable," a limited podcast series featuring conversations with his manager Ibrahim Hamad and collaborator Scott Lazer, coinciding with the release of his early mixtapes on streaming platforms.Throughout his career, J. Cole has maintained an authentic artistic voice while achieving remarkable commercial success. Each of his studio albums has received platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His commitment to meaningful storytelling, social consciousness, and artistic integrity has earned him critical acclaim and a devoted global fanbase, establishing him as one of the most influential and respected figures in contemporary hip-hop. Cole's ability to balance commercial viability with artistic vision continues to shape the landscape of popular music and culture.Source: Wikipedia*There may be errors on this page.