J. Cole claims he told Dr Dre to sign Kendrick Lamar
Credit: LA Leakers

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J. Cole claims he told Dr Dre to sign Kendrick Lamar

Hip hop is known for artists trying to stake their claim as originators. Whether it is suggesting that without a particular artist, the genre would be left out in the cold or that a rapper was the “first to breakthrough”, hip hop encourages bold stances. A new one has recently emerged concerning J. Cole as the North Carolina rapper says he encouraged Dr Dre to sign Kendrick Lamar.

Aftermath has been home to some of the finest rappers around, and, in 2012, their roster was further improved by none other than Kendrick Lamar. In a recent interview, J. Cole has now claimed that he was one of the main reasons that move happened after hyping Lamar to the label’s founder Dre.

The conversation arose between Cole and legendary hip hop interviewer Narduwar. The skilled man with the questions is notorious for having done research that few FBI agents could match, and he delivered once more when he asked the artist: “J. Cole, did you tell Dr Dre about Kendrick?”

A notably long pause ensued before Cole replied with what must be the most usual reply to all of Narduwar’s questions, “Who told you that? Who gave you that piece of information?”

After the shock of Narduwar knowing such a piece of coveted info, Cole eventually replied: “The answer is yes, I did. I’m not gonna say I was the first to tell him… When I brought him up to Dre, I was like, ‘Yo; you know what you gotta do.”

In his defence, Cole was quick to point out that it was unlikely he was the first person to mention K Dot to Dre. After all, the Compton rapper was gaining some serious hype, but Cole did confirm he told The Chronic icon that: “You gotta sign this kid from Compton! Shoutout to Dr Dre,” Cole continued. “He made the right decision.”

Watch Narduwar’s full interview with J. Cole below: