J. COLE

Jermaine Lamarr Cole, born January 28, 1985, is an American rapper and record producer. He was born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Cole gained initial attention as a rapper with the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in 2007. He signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two more mixtapes, The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010), which received critical acclaim. His first studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, was released in 2011 and peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200. It was followed by Born Sinner in 2013, which also topped the chart. Both albums included singles such as "Work Out," "Power Trip" (featuring Miguel), and "Crooked Smile" (featuring TLC). After these releases, Cole shifted from a pop-oriented sound to focus on themes including nostalgia, racial inequality, and materialism. His subsequent albums, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only, and KOD, continued to explore these subjects.