Early life

Cole was born in the 97th General Hospital at a United States Army base in Frankfurt, West Germany. His father is African American and served in the United States Army, and his mother is a white American who worked as a postal worker. Cole relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he was raised by his mother. His father left the family when Cole was still young. He has an older brother named Zach Cole. Growing up, he was an accomplished violinist serving as the first-chair violinist for the Terry Sanford Orchestra as a child.

Cole started rapping at the age of 12, becoming serious about it at the age of 15 which led his mother to purchase a $1,300 ASR-X as a Christmas gift. He hooked up with a local group called Bomm Sheltuh, which included rappers Nervous Reck and FilthE Ritch. Around this time he added record production to his repertoire and his stage name was Therapist.

Cole grew up in a multi-ethnic environment. His childhood revolved around a love for both basketball and rap music. He attended Terry Sanford High School. Cole graduated from high school in 2003. He concluded that he had a better chance of getting a record deal in New York City, so he chose to attend St. John's University on an academic scholarship. Initially majoring in computer science, Cole later switched out to communicators and business after witnessing a lonely computer science professor and not wanting to end up like him. There Cole was the president of the pan-African student coalition, Haraya. and he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude with a 3.8 GPA in 2007. Upon graduating from college, Cole worked part-time jobs as an ad salesman for a newspaper, a bill collector, a file clerk, and a kangaroo mascot at a skate rink in Fayetteville.

In an October 2011 issue of the hip-hop magazine XXL, Cole had this to say about his mixed-race:

I can identify with White people, because I know my mother, her side of the family, who I love. I've had White friends. I know people from high school that I might not have hung out with outside of high school, but I think I got to know them pretty well, so I know they sense of humor. But at the end of the day, I never felt White. I don't know what that feels like. I can identify. But never have I felt like I'm one of them. Not that I wanted to, or tried to, but it just was what it was. I identify more with what I look like, because that's how I got treated. Not necessarily in a negative way. But when you get pulled over by the police, I can't pull out my half-White card. Or if I just meet you on the street you're not gonna be like, "This guy seems half-White."

On April 9, 2015, J. Cole officially received his diploma from his alma mater, St. John’s University, during a homecoming appearance/concert. He later revealed that he never got it, because he owed money for a library book he never paid for. "I guess they let me slide. If you have any outstanding fee, that translates to money. There's a price associated with it. I never paid. That's why I don't have my degree."

Musical career

Career beginnings

Cole started rapping after receiving guidance from his cousin on the basics of rhyming and wordplay. Inspired mostly by rappers Canibus, Nas, Tupac and Eminem, Cole developed a love for telling stories in his lyrics. By age 14, Cole had notebooks filled with rhymes, but no beats of his own to record them with. His mother bought him an 808 beat machine so he could produce music himself. By the age of 17, he was posting songs on various internet forums under the moniker "Therapist". Cole stood outside of Jay Z's Roc the Mic Studio for three hours in order to give him a beat called "On Top of the World" in which he sampled Idris Muhammad, so that his mentor-to-be could use it. However, when Jay-Z came out of his building he shunned the up-and-coming rapper. Soon after graduating college, Cole released his first mixtape, The Come Up (2007). The mixtape was well received but wasn't awarded significant recognition.

2009-10: Mixtapes and Roc Nation signing

Main articles: The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights (mixtape)

He released his second mixtape, The Warm Up, on June 15, 2009 to positive reviews. Cole appeared on Jay Z's album The Blueprint 3 (2009), on the track "A Star Is Born." He is featured on both Wale's debut album, Attention Deficit (2009) and mixtape Back to the Feature (2009) respectively. In January 2010, Cole, along with label mate Jay Electronica and Mos Def appeared on Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek's single, "Just Begun" for the follow-up of Reflection Eternal's album Train of Thought (2000), titled Revolutions Per Minute (2010). Cole also appeared on B.o.B's mixtape May 25 (2010) on the song "Gladiators".

In early 2010, Cole was chosen as one of Beyond Race magazine's "50 Great Breakthrough Artists," he ranked 49, resulting in the cover story of the publication's #11 issue, as well as a Q&A for the magazine's site. He was also featured in XXL magazine 2010 version of Top Ten Freshmen. J. Cole began a college tour from March 19, 2010 to April 30, 2010 concluding in New Brunswick, NJ at Rutgers University's annual Rutgersfest. The tour also featured a stop at Syracuse University for a show with fellow rapper, Wiz Khalifa. On March 31, he performed a new song titled "Who Dat" and released the song as a single on April 30, 2010. Cole was also featured on Young Chris' song "Still the Hottest" as well as Miguel's debut single "All I Want Is You." Additionally, Cole was featured on titled "We On", a song that failed to make final tracklist for DJ Khaled's Victory LP.

To celebrate the anniversary of the release of The Warm Up mixtape, J. Cole released a freestyle entitled "The Last Stretch" on June 15, 2010. On June 21 of that year, J. Cole premiered the music video to his first single "Who Dat" on the BET program 106 & Park. In August 2010 J. Cole, was awarded the UMA Male Artist of the Year thanks to his heralded The Warm Up mixtape and a high profile deal with Jay Z's label Roc Nation at the 2010 Underground Music Awards. In a July 2010 interview, J. Cole revealed three songs that would appear on his debut album: "Dreams", "Won't Be Long", and "Never Told"; which was produced by No I.D. On October 30, 2010, a demo titled "I'm Coming Home" was leaked onto the internet. Cole recorded the song as a reference track for Diddy, which later became "Coming Home" off Last Train to Paris (2010). On November 12, 2010, J. Cole released his third official mixtape titled Friday Night Lights. The tape included features from Drake, Wale, and Omen with most of the production being handled by Cole himself.

2010-11: Cole World: The Sideline Story

Cole served as a supporting act for Drake on the Light Dreams and Nightmares UK Tour, January 5-21, 2011. In April 2011, "HiiiPoWeR", a song Cole produced for Kendrick Lamar's Section.80 (2011) was released. The single was the first of many collaborations to come from the two. On May 22, 2011, J. Cole released a song entitled "Return of Simba," the third in the "Simba series" following "Simba" and "Grown Simba." Cole purposely avoided releasing his debut album’s title for fear of inconsistency, only announcing that Jay-Z would be featured on his debut album. Cole then released his follow-up single to "Who Dat", the album's lead single, "Work Out" on June 15, 2011, in honor of the second anniversary of his highly acclaimed mixtape The Warm Up. The song, produced by Cole himself, samples "The New Workout Plan" by Kanye West and interpolates "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul. The song later became a hit single, topping several music charts.

On July 31, J. Cole took to Twitter to announce Any Given Sunday, reminiscent of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Fridays, a weekly free music giveaway. J. Cole wrote "Every Sunday til the album drops I’ll be back with something. Maybe just 1 song, maybe a video, depending on how I’m feeling." For the 3rd installment of his Sunday series, "Any Given Sunday", J. Cole hopped on Ustream to update fans about the album and play some tracks that didn't make the cut. On August 15, the music video for "Work Out" premiered on YouTube, Vevo, and 106 & Park. On August 22, Cole released his debut album's cover art, designed by Alex Haldi for Bestest Asbestos, whom J. Cole recorded a song for titled "Killers", for Haldi's mixtape The Glorification of Gangster. For the fourth installment, on August 29, he released his debut album's track list, once again through Twitter.

On August 30, after an unfinished version had previously leaked, "Can't Get Enough" featuring R&B singer Trey Songz was released as the album's second single. While in Barbados for his last performance as the official opening act for Rihanna's Loud Tour, Cole shot the music video for "Can't Get Enough", with Songz and Rihanna, who provided a cameo while in her homeland. The video, directed by Clifton Bell, was released on September 14, 2011. In addition early on September 25, two days before his album's release, Cole released a music video for the iTunes bonus track "Daddy's Little Girl".

Cole World: The Sideline Story was released September 27, 2011 debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 218,000 copies in its first-week of sales. As of December 2, 2011, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments and sales of 500,000 copies. On February 7, 2012 the third and final single from Cole's debut album was released. The song, titled "Nobody's Perfect", features renowned female rapper Missy Elliott, marking her return to music.

2011-13: Born Sinner

Main article: Born Sinner

On October 24, 2011, during an interview with Hot 106’s Rise & Grind morning show, Cole revealed he had begun working on his second studio album, with hopes of releasing it in June 2012. He had also stated that the album would consist of songs that failed to make his debut: "I don’t know how many, but I got songs that didn't make the last album that are automatically going to make this one," he said, revealing the release date. "June. End of June, maybe June." On November 6, 7 and 8, Cole was the supporting act for Tinie Tempah, appearing at Bournemouth International Centre; Liverpool Echo Arena, Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales; LG Arena, Birmingham, England; SECC Arena, Glasgow, Scotland; and MEN Arena, Manchester. J. Cole was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2012 Grammys but lost to Bon Iver.

Cole played for the Eastern Team in the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. On February 24, 2012 Cole reached two million followers on Twitter, he celebrated by releasing the song "Grew Up Fast." On March 1, 2012, Cole returned to his home town, Fayetteville, North Carolina. To celebrate his return he released the song "Visionz of Home" and launched an event titled "Dreamville Weekend" to inspire the youth of his hometown to achieve great things. Cole performed for the first time in Africa during the Big Brother Africa 7 opening ceremony on May 6, 2012, alongside Camp Mulla, P-Square, Naeto C, Flavour N'abania, Davido, and Aemo E'Face.

On May 14, Cole announced that he is working on a collaborative album with Kendrick Lamar saying in an interview with Bootleg Kev that "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five together." The project will be more focused on and released once Born Sinner is released. On July 26, he returned to Twitter after a 100-day absence and went on to reveal and release his new song "The Cure" in where he hints at a new album. On October 20, he announced at a live show that his second album is complete and he's waiting until after Lamar releases good kid, m.A.A.d city to reveal it.

On November 5, Cole revealed the title of his second album, Born Sinner, as well as a scheduled release date of January 28, 2013, via ustream. On November 13, 2012, Cole released a promotional single for the album entitled "Miss America." Cole stated he hoped "Miss America" would shift music in a different direction, adding that he knew it wouldn't be a big radio hit. He elaborated further, saying, "To me, 'Miss America' shifts things a little bit, it changes the conversation it takes it in a more aggressive direction, more raw, more social commentary... Any type of commentary is good compared to what a normal single is these days. That's my aim, is to shift culture slightly, change the conversation. Nobody expects that for your first single." The song would not go on to make the cut for the standard edition of Born Sinner. However, it would be featured on the deluxe edition of the album, alongside five other tracks which collectively created Truly Yours 3, the third member of the Truly Yours trilogy.

On December 31, 2012, Cole revealed that Born Sinner would not be released on January 28, 2013, as previously expected. Cole said that he, "needed a little more time than that to get things done." On February 14, 2013, he released the artwork for the first single via Instagram. "Power Trip" was released on February 14, 2013, marking Cole's second collaboration with R&B recording artist, Miguel. Following the originally planned release date of January 28, 2013, Cole had announced a set release date of June 25, 2013 for Born Sinner. However, when it was announced that Kanye West's Yeezus would be released just one week earlier on June 18, Cole moved the release date of Born Sinner up a week in order to compete with West, later commenting, "This is art, and I can't compete against the Kanye West celebrity and the status that he's earned just from being a genius," Cole added. "But I can put my name in the hat and tell you that I think my album is great and you be the judge and you decide."

Born Sinner sold 297,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, finishing approximately 30,000 copies short of Kanye West's Yeezus. As of September 19, 2013, the album has sold 599,000 copies in the United States. He released three more singles in support of the album, "Crooked Smile" featuring TLC, "Forbidden Fruit" featuring Kendrick Lamar, and "She Knows".

2014-present: 2014 Forest Hills Drive

Main article: 2014 Forest Hills Drive

On January 28, 2014, J. Cole announced that his record label Dreamville Records had signed a distribution deal with Interscope Records, and released a label compilation mixtape titled Revenge of the Dreamers. At the time of the deal, the label included Bas, Omen, and K-Quick.

On November 16, 2014, Cole released a video where he announced he would be releasing his third album, titled 2014 Forest Hills Drive, on December 9, 2014. The video also featured footage regarding the making-of the album. Additionally, the album's name sake was revealed to be the address of Cole's childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cole also revealed he would be releasing this album with no lead singles and little promotion. The 13-track album was available for pre-order on iTunes before its general release. The album debuted at number one on Billboard 200, selling 353,000 copies in its first week. The album was also supported by four singles; "Apparently", "G.O.M.D.", "Wet Dreamz", and "No Role Modelz".

On February 13, 2015, Cole announced that he would further promote the album with a tour entitled, Forest Hills Drive Tour. On March 31, 2014 Forest Hills Drive was certified platinum, making it the first hip-hop album with no features to achieve platinum status since 1989.

On December 8, Dreamville released their first compilation album titled Revenge of the Dreamers II. On December 15, Cole announced a mini-documentary series titled, J. Cole: Road to Homecoming ahead of his HBO special Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming, which aired January 9, 2016. The documentary includes five episodes, with guest appearances from Kendrick Lamar, Wale, Rihanna, Pusha T, Big Sean, Jay Z, Drake, and more. All episodes were available for free on Vimeo leading up until January 9, when episode 5 "Homecoming" was released.

On J. Cole's 31st birthday, January 28, 2016, he released his first live album, Forest Hills Drive: Live. The album was recorded during his Forest Hills Drive Tour, live in Fayetteville, North Carolina on August 30, 2015.

Influences and comparisons

In 2011, Cole has cited Tupac Shakur, Nas, Canibus, and Eminem as his influences and calls Tupac his favorite rapper. Since his success, Cole has been compared to Nas on numerous occasions. Cole has addressed this comparison in his song "Let Nas Down", where he states that Nas is his idol and that the comparison came from his third mixtape Friday Night Lights. He also cites rapper Kanye West and producer/mentor No I.D. as his influences.

The Dreamville Foundation

In October 2011, Jermaine Cole established The Dreamville Foundation:

“The Dreamville Foundation is a non-profit organization 501(c)(3), created to “bridge the gap” between the worlds of opportunity and the urban youth of Fayetteville, NC. The foundation’s goal for the urban youth is to have a dream, believe in their dream, and achieve their dream. The Dreamville Foundation is dedicated to creating programs and events that will allow our youth to be 'Set up for Success.' ” The mission of the foundation is to “To reveal to the urban youth, their limitless potential, through positive life- altering experiences.” The Dreamville foundation offers a variety of programs geared towards inspiring and empowering Fayetteville's youth. In 2015, with help from volunteers, the foundation’s annual “Back To School Supply Giveaway” provided more than 500 backpacks filled with school supplies to the community. The Dreamville Foundation also partnered with DTLR to launch their book club as an initiative established to improve the reading and comprehension among young men. Likewise, The Nobody's Perfect Writing Contest and Mother's Day Brunch allows students to express their gratitude for the role models they aspire to be someday, while celebrating their personal accomplishments. Every year J.Cole hosts a weekend of community events called the 'Dreamville Weekend' at his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The events include a discussion with the Young Men's Book Club and Appreciation Dinner to recognize community leaders and organizations who've impacted the community alongside the foundation, as well as, students for their improvement academically and socially. During Dreamville Weekend, the foundation hosted a conference that consists of a Career Day panel of African-American professionals in a variety of fields.

In 2014, Jermaine Cole purchased his childhood home in Fayetteville, NC for $120,000 through the Dreamville Foundation. The home had been repossessed from his mother two years earlier, while Jermaine was attending college in New York. His plan is to turn the house into a homestead for single mothers and their kids to live rent-free.

Personal life

In January 2016 interview with director Ryan Coogler, it was revealed that Cole was married. His wife, long-time girlfriend Melissa Heholt, went to St. John's University with Cole, and is the Executive Director of the Dreamville Foundation.

Discography

Main articles: J. Cole discography and J. Cole production discography

Mixtapes

• The Come Up (2007)
• The Warm Up (2009)
• Friday Night Lights (2010)

Studio albums

• Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)
• Born Sinner (2013)
• 2014 Forest Hills Drive (2014)

Compilation albums

• Revenge of the Dreamers II (with Dreamville) (2015)

Live albums

• Forest Hills Drive: Live (2016)

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards

• 2012: New Artist of the Year (Nominated)
• 2012: Best Rap/Hip Hop Album Cole World: The Sideline Story (Nominated)
• 2015: Best Rap/Hip Hop Album "2014 Forest Hills Drive" (Nominated)

BET Awards

• 2011: Best New Artist (Nominated)
• 2012: Best Hip Hop Artist (Nominated)
• 2012: Best Collaboration: "Party (Remix)" (Nominated)
• 2014: Best Male Hip Hop Artist (Nominated)
• 2016: Best Male Hip Hop Artist (Nominated)

BET Hip Hop Awards

The BET Hip Hop Awards are hosted annually by BET for hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. J. Cole has won two awards from 19 nominations.

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2011	Friday Night Lights	Best Mixtape	Won
2012	Cole World: The Sideline Story	CD of the Year	Nominated
	Himself	MVP of the Year	Nominated
		Producer of the Year	Nominated
		Lyricist of the Year	Nominated
		Best Live Performer	Nominated
	"Nobody's Perfect"	Reese's Perfect Combo Award (Best Collabo)	Nominated
2013	Born Sinner	Album of the Year	Nominated
	"Power Trip"	Best Collabo, Duo or Group	Nominated
		Best Hip-Hop Video	Nominated
		Track of the Year	Nominated
		People's Champ Award	Nominated
	Himself	MVP of the Year	Nominated
		Producer of the Year	Nominated
		Lyricist of the Year	Nominated
		Best Live Performer	Nominated
	"Crooked Smile"	Impact Track	Won
2014		Best Hip Hop Video	Nominated
	Himself	Lyricist of the Year	Nominated
2015			Nominated
		MVP of the Year	Nominated
		Producer of the Year	Nominated
		Best Live Performer	Won
		Hustler of the Year	Nominated
	2014 Forest Hills Drive	Album of the Year	Won
	"Apparently"	Impact Track	Nominated
	"Be Free"		Nominated

Billboard Music Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2014	Born Sinner	Top Rap Album	Nominated
2015	2014 Forest Hills Drive		Won
	Himself	Top Rap Artist	Nominated

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2012	Himself	Best New Artist	Nominated
2014	"Power Trip"	Best Rap/Sung Collaboration	Nominated
2016	2014 Forest Hills Drive	Best Rap Album	Nominated
	"Apparently"	Best Rap Performance	Nominated
	"Planes"	Best R&B Performance	Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated work	Award	Result
2013	"Power Trip" featuring Miguel	Best Hip-Hop Video	Nominated
2014	"Crooked Smile" featuring TLC	Best Video with a Social Message	Nominated

mtvU Woodie Awards

• 2012: Woodie of the Year: Series of Popular Mixtapes (Nominated)

Soul Train Music Awards

• 2012: Best New Artist (Nominated)
• 2013: Best Hip-Hop Song of the Year: "Power Trip" featuring Miguel (Nominated)
• 2013: The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award: "Crooked Smile" featuring TLC (Nominated)
• 2013: Best Collaboration: "Power Trip" featuring Miguel (Nominated)
• 2015: The Ashford and Simpson Songwriter's Award: "Apparently" (Nominated)

World Music Awards

• 2014: Worlds Best Song: "Power Trip" featuring Miguel (Nominated)
• 2014: Worlds Best Album: Born Sinner (Nominated)
• 2014: Worlds Best Video: "Power Trip" featuring Miguel (Nominated)
• 2014: Worlds Best Male Artist (Nominated)
• 2014: Worlds Best Live Act (Nominated)
• 2014: Worlds Best Entertainer of the Year (Nominated)

Tours

• "Cole World: The Sideline Story" (2011)
• "What Dreams May Come Tour" (2013)
• "Dollar And A Dream Tour" (2013)
• "Dollar And A Dream Tour: Exclusively Performing the Warm Up" (2014)
• "Forest Hills Drive Tour" (2015)
• "Dollar And A Dream Tour" Exclusively Performing Friday Night Lights (2015)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]