J. Cole
Jermaine Lamarr Cole
"No such thing as a life that's better than yours." - Love Yourz by J. Cole
Here's a time line of J. Cole's Career:
- January 28, 1985 - Born in Frankfurt, West Germany, but raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
- 2000 - Cole began rapping at the age of twelve, and saw it as an ideal profession in 2000.
- 2007 - "The Come Up" is the first mixtape from North Carolina rapper J. Cole released on May 4, 2007.
- June 15, 2009 - Cole released his second mixtape, "The Warm Up".
- November 12, 2010 - Cole released his third official mixtape titled "Friday Night Lights".
- September 27, 2011 - Cole released "Cole World: The Sideline Story" debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with 218,000 copies in its first-week of sales. As of December 2, 2011, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments and sales of 500,000 copies.
- February 12, 2013 - Cole released an EP titled "Truly Yours" with five tracks Cole knew would not appear on Born Sinner.
- June 25, 2013 - Cole released "Born Sinner" sold 297,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart.
- December 9, 2014 - Cole released "2014 Forest Hills Drive". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 upon release, selling 353,000 copies in its first week.
- December 9, 2016 - Cole released his fourth album, titled "4 Your Eyez Only" debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 492,000 album-equivalent units, of which 363,000 were pure album sales, becoming Cole's fourth number one album.
- March 24, 2017 - HBO announced a documentary titled, J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only, the film aired April 15, 2017. The film was directed by Cole and Scott Lazer. It is now available on YouTube.
- April 20, 2018 - Cole released KOD. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning 397,000 album-equivalent units, including 174,000 in pure sales, making it Cole's fifth number one album.
"I always feel like it’s two key ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two, is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it."