The album J Cole called “a staple in my life”
North Carolina emcee J Cole is one of the most lauded MCs, both lyrically and creatively. His tenure as one of the top hip-hop artists in the US has been lengthy, and his mass appeal has been extraordinary to witness.
From R&B to hard-hitting hip-hop, the 2014 Forest Hills Drive musician has shown versatility and an incredible ability to adapt to the mainstream’s sonic palette. Unlike some of his peers, most notably Drake, J Cole has shown musical growth and maturity over the years and continues to evolve.
J Cole has, in part, shaped the musical landscape of the top echelons of rap music and, akin to figures such as Kendrick Lamar, has set a precedent with his outstanding catalogue of material.
Following the release of his second studio album, Born Sinner, Cole sat down for an in-depth interview with online magazine VICE to speak about his life before fame, his evolution and his growth in confidence.
Coming up through mixtapes, Cole first garnered attention with his 2009 second mixtape release, The Warm Up. Cole was bagging huge features such as Wale and Talib Kweli early in his career. That said, as an artist on the Roc Nation roster, he even featured on Jay-Z’s 2009 album The Blueprint III.
As mentioned, following the release of Born Sinner, Cole spoke to VICE due to his explosion in popularity. The emcee explained that even though he was influenced by rap music and enjoyed it as a youngster, he never intended to become a rapper.
Explaining this, Cole detailed, “I’m not one of those guys that like his whole life was training to be a rapper. I got friends that haven’t made it yet, and their whole lives they been rappers since they were 12, 13 years old, niggas been callin’ them by their rap names. That wasn’t me, I’ve always just been Jermaine, and rap was my alter ego, you know what I’m saying?”
As he revealed more about his early life, the journalist strangely wondered whether he liked Lil B. Responding to the random question, the KOD creator answered, “I don’t know a lot of Lil B, but I like what he represents. What, you love Lil B?”
Before Cole unveiled his main influences growing up, he vividly explained where he was creatively and what the sound of Born Sinner would be. Cole admitted that he was self-aware of his progression, stating, “I can hear a clear difference of where I have progressed sonically, especially in the past four, five months. It’s effortless now, and I’m just following my heart and doing the things I like to do. It’s turning into some of the wildest shit I’ve ever done!”
He added, “Back in the days when I made my beats, I could be like, ‘Oh, that sounds like a Dre beat,’ or, ‘That sounds like a Kanye beat,’ or, ‘That sounds like a Timbaland beat.’ Now I can’t. It’s just a mesh of all this shit.”
The ‘Wet Dreamz’ rapper reflected on listening to Nas and Eminem as an adolescent and admitted that they both influenced his sound. However, he also unveiled that he was a huge fan of Bronx emcee Canibus.
Recalling his love of the latter’s 1998 debut album Can-I-Bus, Cole exclaimed, “The first album? Aw, man, that was a staple in my life. That changed the way I rap. It was like ’98, and my cousin was from Louisiana—I have this story that I told a million times by now. But I started rapping because he was the coolest dude I knew.”
Canibus is one of the most underappreciated artists in hip-hop. However, his legacy is partially tainted by his feud with LL Cool J, which many say he lost. You can hear his debut project, Can-I-Bus, below.