J Cole is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Cole is regarded as one of the most influential rappers of his generation. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina,
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 European American who was a postal worker for the United States Postal Service.
Cole’s father later abandoned the family during his youth. At the age of eight months his mother moved with him and his older brother Zach to the United States, to Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Cole started 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.
Full Name: Jermaine Lamarr Cole
Date of Birth: January 28, 1985
Age: 37
Birth Place: Frankfurt, Hesse, West Germany
Nationality: American
Profession: Rappe Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer, Basketball player
Networth: $60 million
Career:
After becoming musically inspired by Canibus, Nas, Tupac and Eminem, Cole and his cousin worked on developing their basic understanding of rhyming and wordplay, as well as beginning to learn how to interpolate storytelling within their lyrics.
At the age of 14, Cole had various notebooks filled with song ideas, however, was unable to produce beats further than sampling.
Cole’s mother later purchased him the Roland TR-808 drum machine in order to further Cole’s understanding of production. Over the next three years, he began posting songs on various internet forums under the moniker Blaza but later switched to the name Therapist.
J. . Cole 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 debut 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 25 (2010), on the song “Gladiators”, produced by The Alchemist.
On August 15, 2014, Cole released “Be Free” in response to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
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 serve as the first two songs from his upcoming album The Fall Off. The singles were released on the promotional EP, Lewis Street.
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:
According to Wiki, 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.
On July 20, 2020, Cole released an article for The Players’ Tribune, writing about his goals after graduating college to eventually playing professional basketball.
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.
Personal Life:
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.
Studio Albums:
Studio albums
Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)
Born Sinner (2013)
2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014)
4 Your Eyez Only (2016)
KOD (2018)
The Off-Season (2021)
The Fall Off (TBA)
Films:
2015 J. Cole: Road to Homecoming
Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming
2016 Eyez
2017 J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only
Raising Bertie Executive producer
2018 Out of Omaha
2019 Dreamville Presents: REVENGE Himself, executive producer
2021 Applying Pressure: The Off-Season Documentary
Awards:
2011 Friday Night Lights Best Mixtape
Best Live Performer
Lyricist of the Year
Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse