J. Cole's "Cole World: The Sideline Story" debuts atop the Billboard 200

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

From the moment he was signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation, every move made by J. Cole was legendary. Representing North Carolina, J. Cole was hailing from an undeveloped rap scene. During the early 2000s, Petey Pablo had given buzz to North Carolina. But, following his movement, no mainstream artists came.

J. Cole was unlike the typical Southern rappers, as his drawl is barely heard on his records. Also, J. Cole has a lyrical ability unmated by most current rappers, regardless of genre. The overall style of J. Cole immediately made him one of the brightest new stars in the rap game. Mainstream hip hop fans did not have a chance to hear J. Cole until his verse on "A Star is Born."

Despite being signed to Roc Nation, and featured on The Blueprint 3, J. Cole still did not have a solid release date. Because of this, J. Cole flooded the mixtape scene. In 2010, his Friday Night Lights mixtape proved to be his final one. A little less than a year later, J. Cole has finally released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story. The album was projected to sell over 200,000 copies in its first week and has done so, debuting on the top of the Billboard Top 200 albums.

With this, J. Cole has had the highest debut for a North Carolina rapper.

Read more...

J. Cole to release Roc Nation debut

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

Ever since he signed with Roc Nation, the hip hop media has been pitting J. Cole against Drake. When Jay-Z launched his new company, he chose J. Cole as the first artist. This puts all kinds of pressure on new artists, as J. Cole. But, he promised to live up to the pressure.

In 2009, J. Cole was supposed to make the jump from being a mixtape rapper to being the face of Roc Nation. However, his debut was pushed back for Jay-Z's comeback album, The Blueprint 3. J. Cole was rescheduled for 2010 and prepared his album with the "Who Dat?" single.

Before the end of 2010, J. Cole had seemingly been pushed to the backburner for Willow Smith. She built incredible buzz with her "Whip My Hair" single. Jay-Z announced she would definitely be releasing her album before the end of 2011. However, he said J. Cole's album would still be coming first.

Over the past few months, J. Cole has been talking about his new music. Jay-Z has expressed interest in working with Cole on his debut album. While open to working with Jay-Z, J. Cole said he has to step his lyrical game up. Right now, J. Cole does not feel as if he is good enough to have Jay-Z perform on one of his tracks. This comes after his verse on Jay-Z's "A Star is Born." J. Cole is working as hard as he can and he intends to release his debut album sometime this year.

Read more...