J. Cole (born Jermaine Lamarr Cole) was born in Germany on a U.S. military base and raised in North Carolina. He was 12 when he started working on his rapping, and moved to New York City to attend St. John’s University. However, he wasn’t interested in school so much as the opportunity that move gave him to work on his career in music. After graduation he released the mixtape “The Come Up” in 2007, and in 2009, “The Warm Up.” Cole kept trying to get the attention of Jay-Z, and finally was successful, as Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s label, signed J. Cole and released “Who Dat,” a single, in 2010.
“Who Dat” served as a prequel to his mixtape “Friday Night Lights,” which also came out in 2010. When he released “Cole World: The Sideline Story” in 2011, it received outstanding reviews and topped the Billboard 200 chart. In 2012, he won a nomination for a Grammy as “Best New Artist.” J. Cole’s second album, “Born Sinner,” dropped in 2013 and climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.
A review says:
“. . . J. Cole didn’t disappoint at all . . .he made me want to keep following his work . . .”
J. Cole will be at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center on February 27 and 28. Concert organizers will promote such events with poster printing.