J. Cole Biography
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 with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 to release two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010) to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following. Each of Cole's studio albums have peaked 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 received critical acclaim and spawned hit singles including "Work Out", "Power Trip" (featuring Miguel), and "Crooked Smile" (featuring TLC)—each charted within the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Despite commercial success, Cole departed from the pop-oriented sound of the albums in favor of conscious subject matter for his subsequent projects; themes of nostalgia, racial inequality, and materialism were explored respectively in his following releases: 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014), 4 Your Eyez Only (2016) 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 album, The Off-Season (2021) was met with continued success and spawned the single "My Life" (with 21 Savage and Morray), which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Its chart success was matched by his guest appearance on the 2023 single "All My Life" by Lil Durk, and succeeded by his first song to peak the chart, "First Person Shooter" by Drake that same year. The former also won Cole a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance. Self-taught on piano, Cole also acts as a producer alongside his recording career—having largely handled the production of his own projects...