Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
While two-thirds of rap’s short-lived Big Three — Kendrick Lamar and Drake — have been dropping albums and legal actions, respectively, the remaining third (J. Cole, whose “Big Three” comment is kinda sorta responsible for the direction 2024 took in hip-hop) moved in a different direction. J. Cole recently released an audio series that details his backstory and ascendency as one of hip-hop’s most notable and famous figures. And I have to say, if you’re a creative in any capacity, this series is well worth the money ($10) and the listen. The hater in me would say it’s the best $10 I’ve ever spent on a J. Cole project; squabble up.
Allow me to address the lightskinned elephant in the room: I have been pretty critical of J. Cole over the course of his career. Some of that criticism has been fair and some of it hasn’t. I’ve been critical of his musical output as the main artist. I have often been less than impressed with his albums, though it was always about the production and never about his lyrics. J. Cole is now and has been one of the absolute best rappers in the game. Full stop. I have been, perhaps unfairly, critical of the reception of J. Cole as the second coming of Nas. I have continuously joked that I showed up to the J. Cole party a week late — and when I did, he had been anointed the GOAT and I have spent the entirety of his career trying to hear that in his music. His fanbase is rabid and delusional; a great combination to ensure that Cole remains a figure of importance in hip-hop for as long as he so chooses to participate.
Let me also be very clear that I’m ready to make this statement out loud: J. Cole is the best feature artist I’ve ever heard in my life. When I see a song that includes the words “featuring J. Cole,” I know that I’m about to hear a verse that’s so good, I’m going to wonder how annoyed the actual song’s artist was when the verse came back. His talent is indisputable and a locked-in J. Cole is a cheat code. I truly believe this. My unfair criticisms are because of his fanbase, but my fair criticisms are a result of his God-given talent.
With all of that said, I’ve also acknowledged that J. Cole, as a human, is one of the most interesting artists in hip-hop. I will watch any and all documentaries done about or by Cole, and I always walk away from any such project thankful that he is an artist we get the opportunity to hear and engage with. I realize I’m a bundle of contradictions; sue me, I’m human. (I’m just joking, Drake; please don’t sue me.)
Cole’s latest foray into demonstrating just how likable, relatable and interesting he is as a rapper and as a person is his audio series, “Inevitable,” an audio journey that starts with his beginnings as a rapper and takes you through his albums. On the website for the series, the episodes only go through “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” but I can’t imagine there’s any way he doesn’t continue this through the rest of his albums.
I remember an early Kanye West being the artist that most of us college kids attached ourselves to in hip-hop. Kanye’s college dropout schtick included all of the hallmarks of our college experiences, but the truth is, J. Cole is the one who authentically embodied that ethos (as did Phonte and Pooh from Little Brother, and a smattering of other rappers and groups like Kids In The Hall). In early episodes, J. Cole’s retelling of his story (along with longtime friend and manager Ibrahim Hamad and filmmaker Scott Lazer) includes stories about applying to college and getting there, how his family had to make that happen, financial issues, his early recordings and that famous story about waiting outside a studio to give Jay-Z a CD. But it’s not just the story Cole tells that makes it such a compelling and inspirational listen; it’s that he shares emotions that, even in his retelling, still feel as visceral and true as they were at the time.
Cole isn’t some industry-created artist who was given the keys to the kingdom, but a kid with talent and a dream and just enough delusion (he mentions his delusions early and often) to believe that he was going to make it — and has probably far exceeded even his wildest dreams. The stories about the creation of his works of art are great, but the earnestness with which he tells them, sharing where he was in life, especially early on, is so relatable. I found myself inspired by his journey and I’m only three episodes in. I not only want J. Cole to win (he clearly does and has), but I’m invested in him winning. It’s especially jarring because while listening, you can almost forget that the person you’re listening to is one of the biggest, most successful musical artists in the game. He’s not guarded or pretentious. He names the people who helped him and shouts them out. He’s down to earth.
Because of that relatability, Cole’s journey feels like one we all can take. It doesn’t involve the streets. It doesn’t involve having to overcome a life full of struggle. It involves a smart, gifted kid from North Carolina with a talent that he recognized, a desire to make it, and meeting the right people to aid in that journey that they’re all still collectively on, even today. Cole’s story might be “inevitable,” but his story is one that I believe every creative can and should hear because the inspiration in the journey is there. Above all else, it makes you realize that sometimes you just have to keep going; you could end up as the biggest thing in your field.
Maybe your story is inevitable, too.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).