J Waters: J. Cole… the Makings of a Menace

Whether it is because he is Jay-Z’s protege or the fact that he was recently nominated by the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards for Rookie of the Year, it is no secret that Jermaine Lamarr Cole or better known for his stage name J. Cole, has become one of the hottest names in Hip-Hop. His name over the past couple years has developed a certain noteriety, that was initially sparked when he was the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s new label Roc Nation. After hearing the then 23 year old’s new single “Lights Please” for his then upcoming mixtape (“The Warm Up”), Hov made the choice to roll the dice on Cole and commit to his success.

No one knows talent better than Jay and since J. Cole’s signing, the young rapper has done nothing but produce fire. Cole was later put on Jay-Z’s “Blueprint 3″ on the track “A Star Is Born”. He has released two mixtapes: “The Come Up” which was his debut in 2007 and the “Warm Up” in 2009 which was highly debated as Hip-Hop mixtape of the year. Today he drops his highly anticipated “Friday Night Lights” which will most likely be up in the talks for best mixtape of 2010. He graced the cover of XXL’s “10 Freshman for ’10” spring issue (alongside Wiz Khalifa and Nipsey Hu$$le) and everyone now understands why.

Ironically, J. Cole’s lyricism and style has drawn similar comparisons to Nas and he raps about anything and everything from fast cars to the world economy. He is witty, smart, and original which is no suprise from a Magna Cum Laude graduate from St. John’s. Here are a couple tracks off of his first two mixtapes “The Come Up” and “The Warm Up”. They are all phenomenal and should encourage you to download more of his work. It is clear that Cole has been coming up for a while now and is done warming up. This heavy hitter is here to stay for the long term and someone who intends to put his name in the history books. He has his studio album on the horizon for a late 2010/early 2011 release and is currently touring internationally for the next several months with Drake. I hope you enjoy.

– Joe Campbell

Lights Please – J. Cole

The World is Empty – J. Cole

Losing My Balance – J. Cole

Dead Presidents II – J. Cole

Grown Simba – J. Cole

I’m the Man – J. Cole

Dead Presidents – J. Cole

For more, go to http://www.justexcellentbeats.com/jcole1