remember this guy? that’s the homie j. cole. i wrote about him a while back, and a bunch of you all really liked his music. like i said before, he reps fayetteville, NC as hard as fresh prince reps west philly. and he’s pretty much the next hip hop power move maker. he even makes his own beats. like this joint.

incredible, right? right. well, my girl elle of let’s just eat cheese chopped it up with jermaine, and the interview is extra thorough. everything from music to nostalgia for those college days to his goatee. and so much more. the writing is very impressive. on the professional tip. she writes like she works for vibe or something. ha. enjoy.

for misfits only: lights please (j. cole interview)

and i know you liked the song, so indulge.

DL: J. Cole – I Get Up

pictures are worth 1,000 words.

because there was no neptunes beats. you already know i’m a skateboard p groupie, so i’m co-signing. check out complex mag’s vicious article chronicling the break ups of rappers and their go-to producers, and see why TI needs to go back in the lab with DJ toomp, and why snoop & dre need to address their differences and make more gin & juice-esque joints.

want to know what the album could have sounded like with some different production? rapper/producer j. cole can help. yeah, the same dude who made this track. here’s a beat he produced for the final version of the album. i’ll give you both versions to jam, and you be the judge as to whether it’s better than the original beat. oh, and j. cole made these BEFORE the re-up gang x nahright.com remix contest, too.

j. cole’s version of “million dollar corner”:

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vs.

album version:

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download: j. cole’s version of re-up gang’s “million dollar corner”

if you like, e-mail me. i got more of his clipse beats.

i could easily spin this entry into a huge story about a wild and crazy night out in the bronx. but i won’t. i’ll just tell you this. in a semi-drunken stupor, i began running off at the mouth to a stranger about this north carolina rapper that my man and mentor aristotle put me on to while we were both over interning @ def jam. i don’t remember exactly what i was saying, but i probably said something like this:

“…yea man, his name is j. cole, and he flow is kinda insane. i think aris came across a diamond in the rough.”

and the man looked at me, emotionless, and said, “i’m j. cole.”

oh boy. he probably thought that i knew what he looked like, and i purposely said all this stuff around him to cise him a bit. but in actuality, i was just talking about the last thing i heard on my ipod. and by coincidence, i was talking to j. cole about himself. i felt foolish.

fast forward a few months, and mr. cole has developed into a gem. you know why i like this guy? because he doesn’t stop flowing. like on this “royal flush” freestyle. i just threw this on repeat 6 straight times, and honestly, i think he shoulda replaced raekwon on the original version.

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you know i’m right.

download: royal flush (the warm up flow)

and he just jumped on that new jazmine sullivan joint! she’s about to be what lauryn hill should have been after her first album. if this is the official remix, consider him made. if it’s not, it should be.

download: jazmine sullivan – i need you (remix) (feat. j. cole)

the video for the original version below.

oh, and if anybody knows jazmine, tell her modi would love to take her out to PF changs or somewhere that she likes to eat. immediately.