While there is a lot of uncertainty about the current dynamic between Drake and J. Cole, their history as friends and collaborators is well-known. The 39-year-old rapper recently reflected on hearing the Toronto superstar for the first time and how the five-time Grammy winner’s music influenced his artistry.
“It was one dude in particular that I remember seeing on MySpace, and he was this light-skinned R&B-looking ni**a, but he had raps,” Cole said on the latest episode of his audio series Inevitable co-hosted by Dreamville co-founder Ibrahim Hamad. “It was kind of neo-soul-type raps, like on some Little Brother sh*t, but he was talking about women or something. The ni**a’s whole demeanor was hella smooth. But his plays were through the roof for a ni**a you’ve never heard of or has never been signed! I was like, ‘Who is this ni**a?! How does he have 20,000 plays in a day?!”
The “Port Antonio” rapper, like many people, didn’t initially realize that Drizzy was already famous due to being an actor on Degrassi. He was especially moved by tracks like “Sooner Than Later” and “Say What’s Real,” the latter being a freestyle over Kanye West’s “Say You Will” beat. “He f**king destroyed that sh*t,” Cole exclaimed. “I was blown away at how much he bodied that f**king beat. I was like, ‘Yo, he’s f**king phenomenal.’”
J. Cole went on to explain that learning about Drake put him in a conflicting mental space. “For so long, I felt confident in the fact that I was the only one occupying that space, the only one with that perspective and that sharp of a pen,” he said.
“I was like, ‘That’s gonna be my thing, that’s what’s gonna separate me from the pack. So the second I heard [‘Say What’s Real’], one, I was blown away because of how good it was. But two, subconsciously I was like, ‘Ha! There was someone else out there the whole time that was working maybe just as hard as I was working, was thinking the same things and who had the same opportunity to occupy a certain lane that I never saw any competition for.’”
Ultimately, all of this shifted his approach to his 2009 mixtape The Warm Up. “‘I’m like […] My deal with Jay ain’t even done,” he said. “I’m not even anybody yet. And this ni**a’s off to the races with hits, like cultural-shifting sh*t.’ At that moment, I had to shift my mindset about what The Warm Up was about to be ’cause Drake just changed the game.” He initially planned for the project to be all freestyles, mirroring Kobe Bryant’s relentless basketball work ethic in being in the gym every day to work on his craft.
Drake has previously shown his love for J. Cole, calling him a “GOAT” and saying he would be involved in his wedding. Of course, they collaborated multiple times on the tracks “In The Morning,” “Jodeci Freestyle,” “First Person Shooter,” and “Evil Ways.” The duo also toured together in late 2023 and early 2024 before engaging in their respective feuds with Kendrick Lamar.
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