J. Cole praises Kanye West’s artistry and shared that the classic hit “Through The Wire” changed his life and career.
Today, J. Cole is one of the most prolific rappers of his generation and is often mentioned as one of the Big 3s in rap, with the other two being Drake and Kendrick Lamar. While the Dreamville rapper might not receive the same attention the other two get, he is still quite a force to reckon with in rap over the last decade.
READ: J. Cole Shares His Stance On Kendrick Lamar and Drake Beef In New Song
J. Cole is not your typical rapper who built their career on beef with other rappers and ego. He is as humble as he is prolific with his raps. Now his fans get a chance to delve deep into his career and life thanks to his new audio series, Inevitable. The North Carolina rapper and his co-hosts Ibrahim Hamad and Scott Lazer released the first episode in the series on Monday (November 18). The episode is titled “The Come Up,” which is named after his debut mixtape.
Cole shared that his early raps were more about storytelling with made-up scenarios rather than what was happening in his real life, which he explains was really ordinary compared to most rappers.
“But my life was actually hella regular,” the “All My Life” rapper said. “I didn’t sell no drugs. It was nothing like my favorite rappers. It was nothing like JAY-Z and it was nothing like Pac’s life appeared to be. It wasn’t nothing gangsta about it. I had a hard time seeing myself as… the lifestyle portion, I didn’t get it. I didn’t know how to talk about my life in a way that people could connect with. And then f—ing Kanye West happened.”
J. Cole then shared how Kanye West’s meteoric rise in rap influenced his career. “In the summer in 2003 before I went to college, the ‘Through The Wire’ video dropped and that changed my life and I became a massive Kanye fan,” Cole continues. “Kanye was the first time I saw myself in somebody. It was like, ‘Oh, this n—a just made it possible to talk about your life or your regular perspectives in a way that’s appealing.’ This n—a became my favorite artist at that point. He kinda cracked my mind open.”
Kanye West has not yet publicly reacted to J. Cole’s comments, but his fans on X are sounding off, with people agreeing with the “Middle Child” rapper about that era of Kanye music. The Come Up Mixtape Vol. 1 is now available on streaming service for the first time.
