How J. Cole Almost Destroyed Nas' Reputation

J Cole has evolved into one of rap's most prolific and biggest stars in the game with over 40 million monthly listeners and his songs like no Role Models wet dreams and middle child it's clear that he's downloaded a formula to never miss however it wasn't always that way before becoming the superstar that he is today he was a struggling artist trying to find his identity and created his single in the process he lost his Direction and conformed to the industry standards more importantly he disappointed one of his biggest childhood Idols along the way hi I'm Louisa I create weekly video documentaries of things I'm into today we're going to break down how J Cole almost completely destroyed this legendary rapper's reputation at one point in his career and the response that NOS gave to help him save face but before getting into the reasons J Cole disappointed his Idol it's super important to understand just how tough his journey to the top was as it plays a critical role in the story Jermaine Lamar Cole born in Frankfurt Germany faced a challenging upbringing his father an American Soldier left his mother a white German postal worker when he was just a baby this specific life event deeply affected him growing up as it was referenced numerous times throughout his cattle log as well as interviews family issues man I didn't grow up my father you know what I mean I feel like that's an early thing that people don't really analyze because we get over it so quick we don't grow up with your father in your life it's like it just becomes normal but that's the ultimate attachment that's not that's not there that's avoid in your life ultimately that's there you know what I mean as a result of being abandoned by his father Cole's mom took him and his older brother under her wing and relocated to Fayetteville North Carolina which he often refers to as the Ville in his music cold is you crazy that some big boost to feel yeah straight out the field in the shoes fit well scene haven't seen him this city was strongly connected to the military where they were sighted in trailer parks and face Financial hardships when describing what it was like to live in the city Cole said it was looked at as the worst most crime ridden and dangerous city in the state to go outside of the city and tell someone you're from Fayetteville it's like oh [ __ ] uh-oh that's the reputation however around the fifth or sixth grade J Cole's life took a turn for the better when his mother remarried a man in the Army this marriage brought a positive change as the family moved to a more comfortable and better quality of life in a new residence located on Forest Hills Drive which would later serve as the inspiration and title for J Cole's third album me and my brother shared a room and when we got here this gave me the ability to close the door when I got my own room I could do things like zone out to the music I wanted to hear I could do things like rap in front of the mirror and nobody's looking and I don't feel crazy I could do things like sitting my own thoughts and writing my raps and that's when I became way more introspective this is the house that Cole lived in for about seven years of his life from age 11 to age 18. and Cole expressed in an interview with Vice that it was here where he started rapping made his first beat had his first girlfriend job and overall experienced most of his childhood immersing himself in the world of hip-hop J Cole became a devoted student of the genre first he spent his teenage years learning how to make beats after his mom bought him an 808 drum machine with the little money they had and I had to figure out how to use this and that's when I started making my own beats writing my own songs it all started on this machine right here and while we know that he also harbored Ambitions of making it to the league it was the Allure of the pen that was the strongest for him as he began studying the greats of hip-hop tell me right now who's your top five I mean it circulates the same people but it's hard because it's really like six and seven but so packed off the top out the gate Nas big J and then that slot right there is like Eminem's Andre listed as one of his favorite rappers of all time Cole remembered how hearing NASA's sophomore record it was written was a creative turning point in his life claiming that when he heard the song I gave you power was the moment he realized NOS was one of the greatest rappers to ever live I go back crowds making every ghetto sound he even once tweeted how he would literally print out the lyrics to the song and hang them up on his wall that he used to play the song undying love every day because he saw it as a novel and taking the look at some of his earlier work the influence NOS had on his sounds is pretty clear what goes around comes around what goes up must come down you up now but you'll get yours somehow someday in some way shape or form revenge is coming no way to escape the storm so let's be honest while many aspiring rappers dream of achieving success in the music industry the harsh reality is that only a few manage to actually break through thankfully J Cole was completely aware of this fact and understood that relying solely on making music to earn a living might not be a viable option so instead he made a conscious decision to prioritize getting an education and creating a backup plan for his future instead of getting involved in the streets like most did in the dangerous city that surrounded him he kept his head in the books and graduated high school with a 4.2 GPA in 2000 3 which led to the greatest opportunity yet a scholarship at St John's University which is located in New York I left my city I left town I went to another place that I didn't know anybody I met kids from all over and developed relationships and I learned so much more and I grew and there was more experiences over here that are unique to me and a bunch of kids out there that are in school or went to school that the average rap story that we know about came from the hood had to sell drugs you know which is I respect those stories because these are my friends too these are their stories but I'm bringing something else well everything was seemingly going great for J Cole A lot happened back home when he left for University for one his mother's marriage unfortunately ended leaving her unable to sustain their home on Forest Hills Drive as a result the house was foreclosed upon tragically following the separation Cole's mother fell into a state of addiction to crack cocaine influenced by a new romantic partner [Music] so this only gave J Cole more fuel to make it out the horrible situation he was placed in since birth she remarries a stepfather that who me and my brother don't like we you know we hate this guy he's like you know you know I just feel like that that boy and her relationship with him that's weird with families it's like when your mother remarries that's a whole new love that's given to like a new man as the kids sit around like and we don't know it at the time I just I answered that by like going in my room and like staying at myself and my brother answered it in his own way but I look back and maybe those are the things that led to like you know I gotta be I gotta go do something I gotta be great but Cole made the most of his time at St John's and became the president of a pan-african student Coalition while also graduating with a Magna cumulati in communication and business in other words Cole didn't just survived College he graduated with really good grades and his future was promising this experience also taught him many lessons including a key to success which is always going the extra mile but despite all that Jayco still wanted to become affiliated with the music industry and it's really what he did outside of school that completely changed his life forever during his day at St John's University J Cole was reading an article about one of his favorite rappers Jay-Z in his 10th studio album American Gangster when he suddenly hit him if he wanted to make a splash in the industry why not make a b CD for Jay-Z's new album sounds crazy but like they say no great mind has ever existed without a touch of Madness so J Cole devised a bold plan to catch the attention of the legendary Jay-Z recognizing the significance of the rock the mic Studio which was located just a few hours away from the college he attended and was known as the studio that Jay-Z was said to have recorded most of his work at J Cole saw it as a perfect opportunity to present his Beats determined to make an impression he claimed to have waited patiently outside the studio for over three hours in the rain clutching a CD containing his meticulously crafted beats with the utmost hope in anticipation Jermaine finally came face to face with Jay-Z but then this happened just like I'm froze I don't really know what to say I'm like yo Jay I got this i got this for you he's like man what is that like what are you doing I'm like yo it's American Gangster big CD you know I can't really speak and he's like man I don't want that sh you know what I mean don't say what did he say man yeah what did he say I don't want that [ __ ] man get out of one of those guys like he said it while most people viewed this effort as a failure J Cole stay committed to the grind and Jay-Z's rejection served as one of the most pivotal moments of his career for one it was heartbreaking to hear that from one of his idols and it made him doubtful of his abilities to make it into the game on the other hand he used a negative energy as fuel began honing in on his craft and released his first ever mixtape to come up in 2007 and this mixtape was a massive success for two main reasons first off it allowed J Cole to build an audience and grow a fan base but more importantly it allowed Cole to finally catch the attention of Jay-Z the come-up generated enough Buzz to catch the ear of Mark Pitts which is the former manager of Biggie Smalls and the CEO of by storm entertainment with pizzas industry connections J Cole secured meetings with Roc Nation Jay-Z's record label Jay-Z recognized J Cole's potential and signed him as the first artist on Roc Nation in 2009 and the rest was history from here all coal had to do was simply put out music and keep growing the brand but this gift didn't come without its curves and Cole would soon realize the rappers he used to look up to were not what he thought they'd be getting his foot in the door was only the beginning following the come up he would go on to release two additional mixtapes the warm-up and Friday Night Lights and till this day some people like myself claim that he hasn't topped these bodies of work since he dropped them that's how good they were these projects helped him build a huge Buzz he started gaining tons of Industry connections was invited to multiple interviews got his freaking teeth fixed and was even being mentioned in Mac Miller songs which was pretty huge at the time and who could forget the time he posted this tweet in 2009 where he was thankful for having 502 followers even Cole himself reflected on how people began comparing him to his Idol Nas he that cone a little birdie told me on the low you got an Illmatic nobody touching eyes [ __ ] it's more like Bill Madden but despite his meteoric rise to success and being able to put out two Banger projects that was pretty well received from his audience this wasn't what J Cole envisioned instead he was dying to release his first album however without a hit single these projects were only considered as mixtapes which if you aren't familiar are basically projects that are made solely to generate more buzz and are not treated as completed debut projects as they are put out to the public for free they also usually contain a bunch of songs with uncleared samples so there's no way to fully monetize them after all everyone knows that the most important ingredient of a successful album is a great single more specifically a song that takes the radio by storm for example Kendrick's good kid Mad City had to track swimming pools and Drake's take care had hell yeah [ __ ] right and so on with that being said producing a radio hit is extremely rare especially for an up-and-coming rap star like J Cole but Jay-Z was committed to helping Cole crack the secret formula so on May 31st 2010 he tried his first attempt at a hit single with the song Who Dat [ __ ] but unfortunately his first single turned out to be a massive dud in fact it performed so poorly on the charge that it was cut from the album's tracklist altogether in other words it was back to the drawing board for J Cole only this time it was essential that he got his single right he couldn't afford to have two bad singles on the Same album so naturally Co confined and Jay-Z to get things back on track if anyone knew the difference between a hit song and just another song it was definitely hope but Jay-Z wasn't taking it easy on J Cole When J Cole introduced Jay-Z to his next potential single higher Chasey quickly shot it down he was looking back at me like whoa anywhere he's like yeah [ __ ] Melody [ __ ] yes more so he was [ __ ] with it but it was not the reaction that I wanted the reaction that I wanted was like we got it [ __ ] let's go he didn't give me that he gave me like times he was like yo like [ __ ] don't really say that line you should change that line which he was right but it wasn't what I wanted and I'm the type of person that if I don't get what I want from you I don't even want to talk about it no more I just want to go do something else it's going to give you the reaction that I want even though the song was a hit it wasn't a certified Banger hence J Cole returned to the studio with more motivation than ever this resulted in Cole's next potential single blow up and boy Cole was excited about this song maybe about a month and some change later I did this song called blow up and I was like you know this is it but despite his excitement Jay-Z told him that there was still something missing from the song the opinion did not sit well with Cole at this point it had been about a year since his mixtape the warm-up so naturally fans were starting to get impatient in their minds they had no idea how hard J Cole was actually working but fortunately Cole didn't let the outside noise affect his work he continued working on his next single with hopes that it would be the one fast forward two months later and this time J Cole knew he had the one called Can't Get Enough Cole was confident that this song was the real deal now it was up to Jay-Z to confirm what he was already thinking so I press play and this [ __ ] is like it's like yo I'm not saying this is the one because he learned his lesson I'm not saying this is the one but it's exactly what I was talking about so finally here it was the perfect song At Last or at least it was the perfect song Until J Cole decided to change it up and this is where he ran into some trouble but I was like nah I want him to rap it I really pictured Trey Songz rapping at her I should have just shut the [ __ ] up and just let him sing the hook how it originally was because once I told Jay what I saw he was like nah I think it loses his potential like that and the Christmas break was coming and if y'all know the industry is shuts down right around like after Thanksgiving it's a wrap you know he was hitting that time period Jay kind of lost Steam on a joint I ain't strike while the eyes hot so now I'm [ __ ] I'm a year and a half out from warm-up with no album to my name I've been doing interviews for a year about my album just when it seemed like J Cole finally caught his big break everything came tumbling down it was now nine months since the warm-up and Cole knew his time was running out that said the next six months were even worse as coach continue to write music it became more and more absorbed in his mental state his songs became more depressing and it became less likely that he would strike gold however I don't have a single in the next six months of my life was like literally hell which is what this album kind of is about going through hell trying to make it to Heaven going through a depression trying to make it to happiness you know what I mean and this this is a large part of it next six months of my life I was making some of the worst most uninspired music of my life up until this point it's all it's all been a journey of fun but just as all hope seemed lost Cole found Hope in an unexpected Place one night I was in this hotel room after a show and I was listening to College Dropout as I do and on the worst song on that album which is my favorite album so I'm not distant but on the worst song on that album workout plan I heard the [ __ ] that I had been hearing for like however many eight years now but I heard it different as a producer like oh [ __ ] did I just hear that [ __ ] go I want to see you work out for me [Music] made a rough version of the beat right there in the hotel room by the time I got back in New York a few days later I had workout and thus the song workout was created but is that a good thing even Jay-Z approved a single this time around now it was just a waiting game to see how the song performed although it didn't take long before it became a vast success following the release workout made his way all the way to number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. after countless hours and tons of perseverance it seemed like all of J Cole's hard work was finally paying off however it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows shortly after the release J Cole received a phone call from his mentor and world famous producer noid during which no ID reveals some devastating news to Jay Cole he's like you wanna tell you the truth he's like I'm gonna tell you the truth man I was in the studio with Nas and we was talking about you man and he was like yo why did he do that why did he put out that song don't he know he's the one for reference this wasn't just some Average Joe's opinion this was coming from the rap legend himself Nas widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers to ever live and arguably dropped one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time Illmatic Cole seemingly disappointed the person he was idolized listened to his song every day and the exact artist who he admittedly studied his craft to create a blueprint for his own sound musically so naturally J Cole wasn't happy that Nas called him out there's very few greats that I studied and I still continue to study and now as is obviously one of them is obvious I really had his lyrics printed on my wall I used to have a site it's called hola whoa there's no hip-hop lyrics whatever somebody know and you you print them out so I will break these joints out and I would I would kind of hang them up on the wall let that sink in for a second the same guy whose lyrics were literally on J Cole's walls is now roasting his songs obviously you can imagine how Cole was feeling at that moment and Nas wasn't the only one saying things like this a lot of his core fanbase began to see him as a sellout saying things like I was a big J Cole fan until he made wack radio music but rather than keeping his emotions to himself he felt the need to express his pain and disappointment hence on June 18 2013 the song let NOS down was born something in my stomach I can't believe I led knives down I got defensive on the phone resentment was in my tone well the song isn't J Cole's most popular song it may go down as one of his more deeper and vulnerable Cuts in the song he acknowledges all of the ups and downs from the past two years of his life in the first verse he raps whole basket where's the record that the radio complain I was striking out for months knifing and feeling fear cheat on the pressure made the biggest hit of my career in other words Cole was recapping his struggle to come up with his first hit single and the pressure he felt from the label and fans who are eagerly waiting for a single before J Cole then goes on to rap Dion call me when it drops sounding sad but since it told me Nas heard your singer when he hate that [ __ ] said you the one yo why you make that [ __ ] in addition Cole would also call out Nas for being hypocritical for the fact that he too at one point conformed to the industry standards and made radio records like the song titled you owe me I couldn't help but think that maybe I had made a mistake I mean you made you owe me dog I thought that you can relate but believe it or not didn't intend to shed NOS in a negative light instead he just wanted to pour out his heart to his fans and helped NOS understand the gravity of the situation this song is amazing as well and the production was on point and is arguably the best song on the entire album if we're keeping it a bug so despite shedding Nas in a negative light Cole is also expressing his admiration for him after all he isn't blaming NOS for his opinion he's just disappointed but the million dollar question Still Remains how did Nas feel about the song cause let's face it he probably lost a lot of fans for critiquing Cole's hard work and successful single but contrary to popular belief NOS wasn't upset with the song in fact he actually enjoyed it and respected J Cole for speaking the truth soon afterward NOS responded with his own remix of the song titled made NOS proud and shortly after did a collab with Cole on Vibe magazine to squash to beef up radio records are needed I just wanted to bring the war in global warming today that cold world you was breathing that's some advice I never got if I don't sell another record out to steady Rock he also gave J Cole his own shout out on social media in a Twitter post from June 22nd 2013 na stated you made me proud man since then he's also doubled down on his stance in 2021 he even went as far as to compare J Cole to notable rappers such as himself Biggie and Jay-Z I should have did that remix version give me the loot for biggie me Jay and Frank White is like cold Drizzy and Kent this proves once and for all that Nas is a big fan of J Cole but sometimes being someone's biggest fan also means to be their biggest critic however it is always good to speak your mind or Are there specific times and places for constructive criticism imma let you guys be the judge of that either way NASA and J Cole will forever go down as two rap icons who wear their hearts on their sleeve but if you like stories like this you'll definitely like the last video I made on the screen till next time guys make sure you like And subscribe and comment what I should talk about next peace

Channel: Louaista

Views: 369,874

Keywords: hip hop, canvas, canvas man, louaista

Id: Dyx7xnk8RlE

Length: 20min 49sec (1249 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 25 2023