J. Cole wouldn’t be the rapper he is today if it weren’t for Kanye West. In episode 1 of his new audio series, Inevitable, he credits Ye for being an example of an emcee who rapped about his completely “normal” life.
“I was an aggressive battle rapper that had bars and I was a storyteller of fantasy, like ‘The Storm’ — completely made-up scenarios. I had that, but my life was actually hella regular,” he said. “I didn’t sell no drugs, it was nothing like my favorite rappers. It was nothing like JAY-Z‘s life, it was nothing like what ‘Pac‘s life appeared to be. There was nothing gangster about it.”
“I didn’t know how to talk about my life in a way that people could connect with,” Cole continued. “And then f****** Kanye West happened.”
Cole saw himself in Kanye, which helped him embrace and discuss his personality in his music.
“In the summer of 2003 before I went to college, the Through the Wire video dropped — and that s*** changed my life,” Cole recalled. “I became a massive Kanye fan. Kanye was the first time that I saw myself in somebody. He just made it possible to talk about your life or your regular-a** perspective in a way that’s appealing.”
“This n**** became my favorite artist at that point,” he continued. “He kinda cracked my mind open.”
Cole has since appeared to throw jabs at Ye on “False Prophet” and “Middle Child,” with Ye rapping on his “Like That” remix, “Play J. Cole, get the p**** dry.”
In other J. Cole news, he’s released his debut mixtape, The Come Up Mixtape, Vol. 1, on streaming services for the first time since it dropped in 2007. It features “School Daze,” “Dollar and a Dream” and more.
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