J Cole is one of the most respectable artists in hip-hop today, and he’s a lyricist who has always taken his craft seriously. Cole, akin to Kendrick Lamar, has consistently released quality music over the years. However, there is one emcee that the Fayetteville rapper compared to 2Pac.
During an appearance on the Rap Radar podcast, Nigerian-American artist Burna Boy unveiled that while in the studio with J Cole, the Dreamville rapper called him “2Pac reincarnated.”
Speaking with Brian ‘B. Dot’ Miller and Elliott Wilson about his time in the studio with Cole, Burna explained, “I don’t really know the dynamics behind how everything happened, but somehow I end up in the studio with J. Cole and a bunch of basketball players — tall as hell.”
He continued, “And then yeah, before any music, we were just all talking about real stuff, about life and everything really. And for me, I don’t really talk. I don’t really have conversations with people that don’t live with me and stuff like that. I don’t have them long conversations like that. So, for me, I found myself going off.”
However, the artist (real name Damini Ogulu) was not prepared for the flattering compliment that Cole gave him next. Revealing how they commenced the session, Ogulu disclosed, “Before we start, he just goes, ‘Bruh, this n*gga’s 2Pac.’ And then I look around to see who he’s talking about, and it’s me he’s talking about. Like, ‘Yeah, this n*gga is — it’s like 2Pac reincarnated in Africa and shit.'”
Burna Boy has been front and centre of Afrobeat since 2012 and, throughout his career, has sought to fuse the sound of Africa with genres such as trap and R’n’B. Some of his most well-known hits include the likes of ‘Ye’ and ‘On The Low’.
Cole and Ogulu have collaborated twice. Once on their track ‘Thanks’ and most recently on their song ‘All My Life’, which also features Lil Durk. You can hear Burna Boy speaking on the 2Pac comparison in the video below.
