J. Cole

Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, ''The Come Up'', in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: ''The Warm Up'' (2009) and ''Friday Night Lights'' (2010) to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following.

Each of Cole's studio albums have debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200, beginning with his debut, ''Cole World: The Sideline Story'' (2011), and its follow-up, ''Born Sinner'' (2013). Both met with critical acclaim, the albums spawned the ''Billboard'' Hot 100-top 40 singles "Work Out", "Power Trip" (featuring Miguel), and "Crooked Smile" (featuring TLC). Despite commercial success, Cole departed from the pop-oriented sound of the albums in favor of conscious subject matter for his subsequent projects; themes of nostalgia, racial inequality, and materialism were explored respectively in his following releases: ''2014 Forest Hills Drive'' (2014), ''4 Your Eyez Only'' (2016) and ''KOD'' (2018). ''4 Your Eyez Only'' yielded his furthest commercial success—selling an estimated 500,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, while the latter featured a then-record six simultaneous top 20 hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 — the first time a musical act achieved this feat since English rock band the Beatles in 1964. His sixth album, ''The Off-Season'' (2021), was met with continued success and spawned the single "My Life" (with 21 Savage and Morray), which peaked at number two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Its chart success was matched by his guest appearance on the 2023 single "All My Life" by Lil Durk, and succeeded by his first song to peak the chart, "First Person Shooter" by Drake that same year. The former also won Cole a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Rap Performance.

Self-taught on piano, Cole also acts as a producer alongside his recording career—having largely handled the production of his own projects—with credits on material for other artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Janet Jackson, Young Thug, Wale, and Mac Miller, among others. Cole's side ventures include his record label Dreamville Records, as well as its namesake media company and non-profit. The label, having signed artists including JID, Ari Lennox, and EarthGang, has released four compilation albums; their third, ''Revenge of the Dreamers III'' (2019), debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. In January 2015, Cole began housing single mothers rent-free at his childhood home in Fayetteville.

Cole has won two Grammy Awards from seventeen nominations, a ''Billboard'' Music Award for Top Rap Album, three Soul Train Music Awards, and eight BET Hip Hop Awards. Each of his albums—including ''Revenge of the Dreamers III''—have received platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Provided by Wikipedia