The worst job J Cole ever had: “I don’t think a man can do that job”
Every rapper has to start somewhere. J Cole was 24 when Jay-Z signed him with Roc Nation, leaving him with plenty of years of trying to make ends meet with regular day jobs before that point. He had many gigs before finding fame as a rapper, and they weren’t always the most enjoyable experiences.
During an interview in 2012, shortly after the release of his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story, Cole opened up about the worst job he’s ever had. He secured the role through his girlfriend during college, but it simply wasn’t for him.
“When I was in college my girl got me a job at the doctor’s office she was working at. I was a file clerk,” he told GQ. “No disrespect but I don’t think a man can do that job. It takes so much meticulous and precise file-keeping.
“I had that job a week and a half before I went to the lady and told her some crazy lie about why I was quittin’. She said, ‘Yeah, I think that’s best for both of us.’ She agreed too easily. I quit but her response made me feel like I got fired.”
In addition to being a file clerk, Cole worked as a newspaper ad salesman, a bill collector, and even a kangaroo mascot at a skating rink. Speaking to NPR, he opened up about his upbringing in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
“Man, I feel like it was the best,” he said. “At least for my line of work, it was the best upbringing I could have had. I started off on a military base and I remember moving. I guess this is after my parents got divorced, but I remember moving from there straight to a trailer park. And it was, like, one of the scariest places I’ve been to because I was always worried about my mother.”
He continued, “I grew up with, you know, a white mother and we’re in this all black neighborhood, trailer park. And around the fifth or sixth grade, I moved from there into a nicer house where I had my own room, you know, so I saw life at all levels. So I’m half black, half white. So, basically, put it like this, I could fit in anywhere. That’s why I write so many stories from so many different perspectives because I’ve seen so many.”
Competitive by nature, Cole described himself as a “serious student” in school who wanted to excel in all of his subjects. “I’m a competitor,” he said. “My mum tells this story of, like, when I was in the second grade or first grade and I would be at the teacher’s desk every day, asking her, like, can I get my average? And the teacher would be like, ‘Man, you’re in first grade. Why do you want your average?'”
He added, “But it was a competition for me. Like, I really – you know, I want to be the best. Anything I do, I want to do it well.”