60 Fun Facts About J. Cole

J. Cole was born in January 1985 on a US military base in which country?

His father was serving in the US Army in Frankfurt. When Cole was eight months old his mother moved him and his older brother to North Carolina.

In which North Carolina city did J. Cole grow up?

The city, home to Fort Bragg, is the setting of his farewell double album and the location of the childhood home he later bought back.

What is J. Cole's real first name?

Friends and collaborators still call him by it; DJ Khaled titled a track on Major Key after him.

Which instrument did J. Cole play as first chair in his high-school orchestra?

He held the seat in the Terry Sanford Orchestra until 2003, the same school where he played basketball.

Under what pseudonym did the teenage J. Cole first post beats and songs online?

He had started out as Blaza before switching. His mother bought him a Roland TR-808 to push his production further.

What did J. Cole's mother buy him for Christmas in 2000 that convinced him rap could be a career?

It was an ASR-X. He had been rapping since 12 and by 14 had notebooks full of song ideas but no way to make beats beyond sampling.

J. Cole moved to New York on a scholarship to which university?

He chose New York because he thought his odds of a record deal were better there. He also tried out for the basketball team as a walk-on.

J. Cole graduated magna cum laude in 2007 but did not receive his degree until 2015. Why?

The university finally handed it over during a homecoming concert. He had a 3.8 GPA.

After starting in computer science, J. Cole switched his college major to what?

He changed course after watching the lonely life of a computer science professor. He was also president of a pan-African student coalition.

What was the title of J. Cole's debut mixtape, released in early 2007?

He built it on a CD of instrumentals he had made hoping to play them for Jay-Z, who dismissed him after a three-hour wait outside the studio.

Which Jay-Z album was being recorded when J. Cole waited over three hours at Roc the Mic Studio to hand him a beat CD, only to be turned away?

Two years later the same man signed him. Cole has said Jay-Z was his mentor before he ever signed to him.

Which label, founded by Jay-Z, signed J. Cole in 2009?

It released his next two mixtapes. His first project away from the imprint did not come until the 2024 mixtape Might Delete Later.

J. Cole made his first appearance on a Jay-Z album with the track A Star Is Born, from which 2009 record?

The same year he was a supporting act on Jay-Z's fall tour and appeared on Wale's debut album.

Which J. Cole project, released in November 2010, was originally going to be called Villematic?

Most of its songs had at one point been slated for his debut album. It finally reached streaming services in November 2024.

Which lead single from J. Cole's debut samples Kanye's The New Workout Plan and interpolates a Paula Abdul hit?

Nas voiced his displeasure with the song, which prompted Cole to write Let Nas Down; Nas answered with Made Nas Proud.

What is the subtitle of Cole World, J. Cole's 2011 debut studio album?

It debuted at number one and went platinum. Missy Elliott, Trey Songz, Drake and Jay-Z were its only guests.

How many copies did J. Cole's debut album sell in its first week in the US?

It was enough for number one on the Billboard 200. Each of the wrong options is the first-week figure for one of his later albums.

Which superstar cameoed in the Can't Get Enough video while J. Cole opened her tour?

He was the official opening act on the Loud Tour. Trey Songz sings the hook on the track.

Which J. Cole single featured Missy Elliott, marking her return to music in 2012?

It was the third and final single from his debut. His foundation later named a student writing contest after it.

J. Cole moved the release of Born Sinner up a week to go head to head with which Kanye West album?

He finished about 30,000 copies short in week one, then climbed to number one in the album's third week.

Which singer features on Power Trip after Jay-Z suggested Cole hand him the hook?

Cole had sung the chorus himself until that meeting. It was their second collaboration after All I Want Is You.

Which girl group features on the Born Sinner single Crooked Smile?

Cole recruited them after writing the hook. The song samples Jennifer Hudson's No One Gonna Love You.

The Crooked Smile video was a tribute to which real victim of a 2010 police raid?

She was seven when Detroit police shot her during a raid on her home. Sheldon Candis directed the video.

The title of J. Cole's third album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, is what?

He lived there with his mother, brother and stepfather until 2003 and wrote some of his first songs in the house.

For roughly how much did J. Cole buy back his childhood home in 2014?

The house had been repossessed from his mother while he was at college. He now lets single mothers live there rent-free.

No Role Modelz samples which US president fumbling the proverb about being fooled once and fooled twice?

The clip comes from a 2002 speech in Nashville. The song went Diamond in 2024 with over 14 million units.

No Role Modelz was the first song certified platinum by the RIAA without ever having what?

Its interpolation of Project Pat's Don't Save Her did the promotional work instead. It became his biggest streaming song.

The video for Wet Dreamz acts out the song's story using what?

The ending reveals whose pets they are. The single has since gone nine-times platinum.

Which song did J. Cole release in August 2014 after the police shooting of Michael Brown?

He travelled to Ferguson three days later to meet protesters and performed it with an extra verse on Letterman that December.

The HBO concert film Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming was shot at which hometown arena?

It was the final show of the tour, and the same run produced his first live album, released on his 31st birthday.

4 Your Eyez Only was J. Cole's first album released through which major label, after three on Columbia?

It sold 363,000 pure copies in week one, the third-largest sales week of any album in 2016.

J. Cole released 4 Your Eyez Only exactly two years after its predecessor, on which day of December 2016?

All ten of its songs debuted in the Hot 100 top 40, giving him twelve simultaneous chart entries in one week.

KOD stands for Kids on Drugs, King Overdosed and which third phrase?

It came out on April 20, 2018, and Cole produced or co-produced every track but one.

Under what name is J. Cole's alter ego credited on the two features on KOD?

He has said a full project under the persona is in the works. The KOD Tour billed the alter ego as a supporting act.

Which comedian, whose public infidelities inspired a track on KOD, appears in that song's video?

It is the only KOD track Cole did not produce himself.

On release day KOD broke the Apple Music first-day streaming record previously held by which 2016 album?

It also made Cole the first act to debut three songs in the Hot 100 top 10 at once: ATM, Kevin's Heart and the title track.

KOD's closing track 1985 was widely read as a response to which SoundCloud-era rapper?

Cole called it a shoe-fits situation, then sat down with him for an hour-long interview that ended the feud, at least for a while.

J. Cole's first Grammy came in 2020 for Best Rap Song, for A Lot, a collaboration with which rapper?

The two met at the Made in America Festival and a random text led to the session; Cole drove the song home to Raleigh to finish his verse.

Which producer co-wrote and co-produced Middle Child with J. Cole in 2019?

It peaked at number four, then his highest-charting song, and was intended for The Fall-Off before landing on a Dreamville compilation.

From its 2019 debut, Dreamville Festival was held at which historic Raleigh location?

The first edition was pushed back from 2018 to April 2019 by Hurricane Florence; SZA, Big Sean and Nelly played it.

The invitation-only Revenge of the Dreamers III sessions ran in January 2019 at Tree Sound Studios in which city?

J. Cole announced them by tweeting a gold poster-style invitation. A thirty-minute documentary, Dreamville Presents: Revenge, came out of the sessions.

Roughly how many songs were recorded during the ten-day Revenge of the Dreamers III sessions, to which 343 artists and producers were invited?

The standard edition kept 18 of them, credited to 35 artists and 27 producers. It became Dreamville's first number-one album.

J. Cole made his 2021 pro basketball debut with the Patriots Basketball Club, based in which country?

He scored three points in his 17-minute debut against the Rivers Hoopers and left after the three-game minimum his contract required, the same week The Off-Season came out.

The Scarborough Shooting Stars, joined by J. Cole in 2022, are co-owned by a co-founder of which record label?

Cole averaged 2.4 points in four games, shooting 50% from three-point range, before taking leave to tour.

Who co-founded Dreamville Records with J. Cole in 2007 and became the label's president?

Cole wanted an outlet for his own music while Hamad wanted to run a label. The two later co-hosted the Inevitable podcast together.

Along with J. Cole and Omen, which rapper was one of Dreamville's three inaugural artists?

The Queens-raised, Paris-born rapper is J. Cole's most frequent collaborator on the label and features on both The Off-Season and Might Delete Later.

J. Cole's first Hot 100 number one, First Person Shooter (2023), is from which Drake album?

His verse crowning a big three of himself, Drake and Kendrick Lamar drew the Like That response that lit the 2024 rap feud.

Which Might Delete Later track aimed at Kendrick Lamar did J. Cole apologize for and pull?

He apologized on stage at Dreamville Festival two days after the release. Critics said the deletion left the tape's boasts sounding hollow.

Which UK rapper features on H.Y.B., the only single released from Might Delete Later?

It went to US rhythmic radio weeks after the mixtape dropped, and the tape went on to earn a Best Rap Album Grammy nomination.

Which song from The Off-Season, featuring Morray, peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100?

It earned Grammy nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Four songs from the album debuted in the top ten the same week.

J. Cole's 2020 Snow on tha Bluff was seen as addressing which rapper, who answered with Song 33?

Chance the Rapper called the song not constructive. Cole ended up urging listeners to follow her and shared a link to her reply.

The Fall-Off tells the story of two visits to J. Cole's home city, first at age 29 and again at what age?

The album began as a 2016 attempt to cure writer's block by rapping competitively again, then grew into a double album marketed as his last.

J. Cole is a minority owner of which NBA franchise?

He played in the 2012 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and had two brief pro stints of his own before buying into his home-state team.

Which 4 Your Eyez Only track entered the Hot 100 at number seven before its single release?

It shares a beat with Bryson Tiller's Exchange, which caused a stir at the time. It was finally sent to radio in January 2017.

KOD's six simultaneous Hot 100 top-20 hits was the first such feat by an album since which act in 1964?

Every one of J. Cole's studio albums has debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and every one has gone platinum.

Which Section.80 track did J. Cole produce, the first of many Kendrick Lamar collaborations?

Cole returned the favour with a Kendrick feature on Born Sinner's Forbidden Fruit two years later.

What did J. Cole's mother Kay do for a living while raising him in North Carolina?

Born in Michigan, she moved him and his older brother Zach to the US from Germany when he was eight months old.

In January 2015, J. Cole opened his childhood home rent-free to whom?

He had bought back the Fayetteville house that gave his third album its title.

How many first-week album-equivalent units did The Off-Season sell to top the Billboard 200 in 2021?

Guests included Morray, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Bas and 6LACK, with T-Minus as co-executive producer.

What is the name of the limited podcast series J. Cole launched in November 2024 with Ibrahim Hamad?

Frequent collaborator Scott Lazer co-hosted the ten-episode first season, released every two days.