J. Cole

Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010), both to critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following. Each of Cole's studio albums would peak the US Billboard 200 upon release, beginning with his debut Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011) and its follow up, Born Sinner (2013). The albums would receive critical acclaim and spawn hit singles including "Work Out", "Power Trip" (featuring Miguel), and "Crooked Smile" (featuring TLC), each charting within the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Despite commercial success, Cole would depart from the pop-oriented sound of his first two records in favor of conscious subject matter for his subsequent projects; themes of nostalgia, racial inequality, and materialism would be explored respectively in his subsequent releases: 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014), 4 Your Eyez Only (2017) and KOD (2018). The latter featured a then-record six simultaneous top twenty hits on the Billboard Hot 100, tying Cole's success with that of English rock band the Beatles. His sixth studio album, The Off-Season (2021), would earn further acclaim as well as his sixteenth and most recent Grammy Award nomination. In 2023, Cole would reach his furthest success on the Billboard Hot 100 with his guest appearances on Lil Durk's "All My Life" and Drake's "First Person Shooter", which peaked at number two and number one respectively on the chart. Self-taught on piano, Cole also acts as a producer alongside his recording career—having largely handled the production of his own projects—with credits on material for other artists including Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson, Young Thug, Wale, and Mac Miller, among others. Cole has been prolific in side ventures including his own record label Dreamville Records, as well as its namesake media company and non-profit. The label, having signed artists including JID, Ari Lennox, and EarthGang, has released four compilation albums; their third project, Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards.