J. Cole
Background information
Birth name	Jermaine Lamar Cole
Born	(1985-01-28) January 28, 1985 (age 27)
Origin	Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Genres	Alternative Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, singer, producer
Instruments	vocals, sampler, keyboards, violin
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Roc Nation, Columbia, Sony Music Entertainment
Associated acts	Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Omen, Elite, Wale, Melanie Fiona, B.o.B, Drake, Big Sean, Kanye West, Trey Songz, Curren$y
Website	www.jcolemusic.com

Jermaine Lamar Cole (born January 28, 1985), better known by his stage name J. Cole, is an American rapper and record producer. In 2009, he was the first rap artist signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation. His long-awaited debut album titled Cole World: The Sideline Story was released on September 27, 2011. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, Top R&B Albums and Top Rap Albums chart, selling more than 217,000 in its first week sales. He received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 54th Grammy Awards

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Cole was born on January 28, 1985.^[1] Cole's father served in the United States Army.^[2] At the age of 8 months old, he relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina where he was raised by his mother, aunt and his cousin. Cole attended Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville and graduated in 2003. He decided that he had a better chance of getting signed in New York City, so he chose to attend St. John's University on an academic scholarship where he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude.^[3][4]

J. Cole started rapping at the age of 13 when his cousin showed him the basics of rhyming and word play. Inspired mostly by rappers Canibus and Tupac Shakur, Cole developed a love for telling stories in his lyrics.^[5] At age 15, J. Cole had notebooks filled with rhymes, but no beats of his own to record them with. His mother bought him an 808 beat machine so he could produce music himself.^{[citation needed]} By the age of 17, he was posting songs on various internet forums under the moniker "Therapist"^[6] J. Cole stood outside of Jay-Z’s place of business for three hours in order to give him beats he sampled by Idris Muhammad, so that his mentor-to-be could use it. However, when Jay-Z came out of his building he shunned the up-and-coming rapper.^[7] Before J. Cole was signed to Roc Nation, he worked as a bill collector. One morning, he turned on his cell phone and noticed that he received a text from an associate asking him to call the associate back. When Cole returned the call, the associate informed Cole that he received a call from Jay-Z’s associates and that he had to meet with them as soon as possible.^[8] Cole has described himself as the "First German rapper" signed to Roc Nation.^[9]

2009-2010: Mixtapes, Tours & Features[link]

He released his second mixtape, The Warm Up, on June 15, 2009 to positive reviews. To celebrate the anniversary of the release of The Warm Up mixtape, J. Cole released a freestyle entitled "The Last Stretch" on June 15, 2010. On June 21 of that year, J. Cole premiered the music video to his first single "Who Dat" on BET's 106 & Park.^[10] In August 2010 J. Cole, was awarded the UMA Male Artist of the Year thanks to his heralded The Warm Up mixtape and a high profile deal with Jay-Z's label Roc Nation at the 2010 Underground Music Awards. In an interview, J. Cole revealed three song names from his upcoming album, including "Wet Dreams", "Won't Be Long", and "Never Told", which was produced by No I.D.^[11] On October 30, 2010, a demo titled "I'm Coming Home" was leaked onto the internet, Cole recorded the song as a reference track for Diddy, which later became "Coming Home" off Last Train to Paris (2010).^[12] On November 12, 2010 J. Cole released his third official mixtape titled Friday Night Lights.^[13] The tape included features from Drake, Wale & Omen with most of the production being handled by Cole himself.

Cole appeared on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint 3 (2009), on the track "A Star Is Born."^[14] He is featured on both Wale's debut album, Attention Deficit (2009) and mixtape Back to the Feature (2009) respectively. In January 2010, Cole, along with label mate Jay Electronica and Mos Def appeared on Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek's single, "Just Begun" for the follow-up of Reflection Eternal's album Train of Thought (2000), titled Revolutions Per Minute (2010).^[15] Cole has also appeared on B.o.B's mixtape May 25th (2010) on the song "Gladiators.^[16] On March 31, he performed a new song titled "Who Dat", which was once the first single off of his debut album. He later released the song on April 30, 2010.^[17] Cole was also featured on Young Chris' song "Still the Hottest" as well as Miguel's debut single "All I Want Is You."^[18] Additionally, Cole was featured on titled "We On", a song that failed to make final tracklist for DJ Khaled's Victory LP.^[19] In early 2010, Cole was chosen as one of Beyond Race Magazine's "50 Great Breakthrough Artists," he ranked 49, resulting in the cover story of the publication's #11 issue, as well as a Q&A for the magazine's site.^[20] He was also featured in XXL magazine 2010 version of Top Ten Freshmen. J. Cole began a college tour from March 19, 2007 to April 30, 2010 concluding in New Brunswick, NJ at Rutgers University's annual Rutgersfest. The tour also featured a stop at Syracuse University for a show with fellow rapper, Wiz Khalifa.^[21] Cole served as a supporting act for Drake, on the Light Dreams and Nightmares UK Tour, January 5–21, 2011.

[edit] 2011–present: Cole World: The Sideline Story

On May 22, 2011, J. Cole released a song entitled "Return of Simba,^[22]" the third in the "Simba series" following "Simba" and "Grown Simba." Cole purposely avoided releasing his debut album’s title for fear of inconsistency. He only announced that Jay-Z will be featured on his debut album.^[8] Cole released his follow-up single to "Who Dat", "Work Out" on June 15, 2011, in honor of the second anniversary of his highly acclaimed mixtape The Warm Up.^[23] The song, produced by Cole himself, samples "The New Workout Plan" by Kanye West and interpolates "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul.^[24][25] On July 31, J. Cole took to Twitter and his website to announce Any Given Sunday. Reminiscent of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Fridays, a weekly free music giveaway. J. Cole wrote "Every Sunday til the album drops I’ll be back with something. Maybe just 1 song, maybe a video, depending on how I’m feeling." For the 3rd installment of his Sunday series, "Any Given Sunday", J. Cole hopped on Ustream to update fans about the album and play some tracks that didn't make the cut. On August 22 Cole released his debut album's cover art, designed by Alex Haldi for Bestest Asbestos, whom J. Cole recorded a song for titled "Killers", for Haldi's mixtape The Glorification of Gangster.^[26] For the fourth installment, on August 29, he released his debut album's track list, once again through twitter.^[27] On August 15 a music video was released for the album's first single "Work Out" on YouTube, Vevo and 106 & Park. On August 30, after an unfinished version had leaked, "Can't Get Enough" featuring R&B singer Trey Songz was released as the album's lead single. While in Barbados for his last performance as the official opening act for Rihanna's Loud Tour, Cole shot the music video for his debut album's second single, "Can't Get Enough", with Songz and Rihanna, who provided a cameo while in her home town.^[28] The video, directed by Clifton Bell, was released on September 14, 2011. In addition early on September 25, two days before his album's release, Cole released a music video for the iTunes bonus track "Daddy's Little Girl".

On October 24, it was announced by J. Cole that his sophomore album will be released in June 2012. He had mentioned that the album will consist of songs that never made the track list for his debut album.^[29] On November 6, 7 and 8, Cole was the support act for Tinie Tempah, during his concert at the Liverpool Echo Arena; Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales; LG Arena, Birmingham, England; SECC Arena, Glasgow, Scotland; and MEN Arena, Manchester, England. After the release of Cole's first album, he immediately went on a national tour across the U.S., in which he was the headliner for the first time. He has opened for labelmates, Rihanna and Jay-Z. Less than three months after his debut Cole World: The Sideline Story hit stores, J. Cole has received gold certification for sales of more than 500,000 units of the LP. J. Cole was recently nominated for Best New Artist at the 2012 Grammys but lost to Bon Iver. J. Cole played for the Eastern Team in the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game.On February 24, 2012 J. Cole reached two million followers on twitter, he celebrated by releasing the song "Grew up Fast."[2] On March 1, 2012, J. Cole returned to his home town, Fayetteville North Carolina. To celebrate his return he released the song "Visionz of Home" and launched an event titled "Dreamville weekend" to inspire the youth of his hometown to achieve great things.^[30]

J. Cole performed for the first time in Africa during the Big Brother Africa 7 opening ceremony on 6 May 2012, alongside Camp Mulla, P-Square, Naeto C, Flavour, Davido and Aemo E'Face.^[31][32]

On May 14th, J.Cole announced that he is working on a collaborative album with Kendrick Lamar, saying in an interview with Bootleg Kev that "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together."

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)

Mixtapes

• The Come Up (2007)
• The Warm Up (2009)
• Friday Night Lights (2010)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Official blog
• J. Cole on Twitter
• J. Cole on Facebook
• J. Cole on Myspace
• J. Cole on MTV.com

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth^[1] (born June 17, 1987), simply known as Kendrick Lamar, is an American rapper and songwriter from Compton, California currently signed to Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope. He first gained major attention after the release of his 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated. In 2011, his album Section.80, released exclusively through iTunes, instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year.^[2] Lamar has amassed a large internet following, is a member of hip hop collective Black Hippy, along with Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, and has worked with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Wiz Khalifa, Game, Drake, Busta Rhymes and Tech N9ne among other popular artists.^[3]

Biography[link]

1987-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Kendrick Lamar was born in Compton, California, a community southeast of Los Angeles city limits, to parents from Chicago, Illinois.^[4] At the age of eight, in 1995, Lamar witnessed his idols, Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film the music video for their hit single "California Love," a very significant moment in Lamar's life.^[5] In 2003 at the young age of sixteen, Lamar released his first mixtape, Youngest Head Nigga In Charge under the name K. Dot.^[6] The mixtape was able to garner enough attention for Lamar to get a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based independent record label.^[6] He then released a twenty-six track mixtape two years later titled Training Day.^[7] More recognition came Lamar's way after a video of a Charles Hamilton show surfaced, where Hamilton goes in the crowd and battles rappers at attendance. Lamar didn't hesitate and began rapping a verse over Milkbone's "Keep It Real", that would later appear on a track titled "West Coast Wu-Tang".^[5] In 2008 Lamar made a cameo appearance on Jay Rock's "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" music video. After receiving a co-sign from Lil Wayne, he released his third mixtape in 2009 titled C4, heavily themed around Tha Carter III LP.^[8] Soon after, he decided to drop his stage name K. Dot and go by his real name. This resulted in him releasing a self-titled EP; the Kendrick Lamar EP in late 2009.^[9]

[edit] 2010–2011: Overly Dedicated and Section.80

Kendrick performing at a concert in Toronto, Canada

In 2010 he toured with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock on The Independent Grind tour.^[6] On September 23, 2010 he released O(verly) D(edicated) a highly acclaimed mixtape that included a song titled "Ignorance is Bliss" in which he glorifies gangsta rap and street crime but ends each verse with "ignorance is bliss" giving the message "we know not what we do".^[10][11] It was that song specifically that made hip hop producer Dr. Dre want to work with Lamar.^[12] This led to him working with Dre and Snoop Dogg on Dre's Detox album and him considering signing to Aftermath Entertainment.^[6][13] In January 2011 Lamar said his debut album was 90% finished.^[6]

In early 2011 Lamar was featured on XXL Magazine's 2011 Freshman cover along with CyHi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Yelawolf, Lil B, Big K.R.I.T. and Diggy Simmons among others.^[14] On July 2, 2011, Lamar released his third solo project Section.80 to critical acclaim. It features guest appearances from GLC, Colin Munroe, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and includes production from longtime collaborator Sounwave, Wyldfyer, Terrace Martin, J. Cole and more. On the topic of whether Section.80 would be an album or a mixtape Lamar said "I treat every project like it’s an album anyway. It’s not gonna be nothing leftover. I never do nothing like that. These are my leftover songs y’all can have ‘em, nah. I’m gonna put my best out. My best effort. I’m tryna look for an album in 2012". The first single for Section.80 was the J. Cole produced track "HiiiPower", of which the concept was to further explain the HiiiPower movement. Section.80 went on to sell over 10,000 copies in its first week^[15] without any television or radio coverage and received many very positive reviews. In the second half of 2011, Lamar appeared on Game's The R.E.D. Album, Tech N9ne's All 6's and 7's, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years and Drake's Take Care.

In August 2011, while onstage with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game, at the West Los Angeles concert, the three of them crowned him the "New King of the West Coast"^[16]

[edit] 2012–present: Good Kid in a Mad City

On February 15, 2012, a song titled "Cartoons & Cereal" featuring Gunplay of Triple C's was leaked.^[17] Lamar revealed later that the track was for his upcoming album and he was planning to shoot a video for it.^[18]

In March 2012, MTV announced that Top Dawg Entertainment, the independent record label Lamar is signed to, have closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of his career as an independent artist. Under the new deal, Kendrick Lamar’s projects, including his upcoming debut studio album Good Kid in a Mad City will be jointly released via Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope, while releases from the rest of Black Hippy will be distributed via Top Dawg and Interscope.^[19]

Lamar premiered "The Recipe", his debut single and the lead single from Good Kid in a Mad City, at Power 106 on April 2, 2012. The track was released for digital download the following day. The song was produced by Scoop DeVille and features Dr. Dre.^{[citation needed]}

It was announced on May 14, 2012, that Lamar is working on a collaborative album with J. Cole. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, Cole stated that "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together."

Personal life[link]

In high school, Centennial in Compton, Lamar was a good student.^[4] Lamar said that he has seen relatives who have died in his dreams for years. Tupac Shakur is also his favorite rapper, and influences not only his music, but his day-to-day lifestyle as well. In terms of subject matter, Kendrick Lamar has often been compared to Tupac Shakur. ^[6][20][21] He revealed that his favorite and most influential rappers are Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z and his label-mate Eminem.

Discography[link]

• Section.80 (2011)
• Good Kid in a Mad City (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kendrick Lamar on Twitter
• kedricklamar.com Official Site

Not to be confused with Drama (rapper).

DJ Drama
DJ Drama In April 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Tyree Cinque Simmons
Also known as	Drama Boy, Gangsta Grillz, Mr. Thanksgiving, Barack O'Drama
Born	(1978-04-22) April 22, 1978 (age 34) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genres	Hip hop, Southern rap, East Coast rap
Occupations	DJ, record producer
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Grand Hustle Records, E1 Music, Aphilliates Music Group, TM3
Associated acts	Akon, Willie the Kid, Lil Wayne, T.I., Young Jeezy, J. Cole, Big Sean, Meek Mill, Gucci Mane, Wiz Khalifa, Fabolous, Wale, Trey Songz, Ludacris, 50 Cent
Website	www.dramalikethedj.com

Tyree Cinque Simmons (born April 22, 1978)^[1] better known as DJ Drama is an American hip hop artist and the official DJ for Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I. He is best known for producing mixtapes, including the successful "Gangsta Grillz" series and Dedication 2, which the New York Times called one of the "10 best recordings of 2006".^[2]

DJ Drama, Don Cannon, and DJ Sense founded Aphilliates Music Group in 2003. The Aphilliates Music Group inked a label deal with Asylum Records in 2006, signing rapper Willie the Kid. As of January 2011, The Aphilliates now operates as its own entity, due to DJ Drama recently cutting ties with La the Darkman and Embassy Entertainment.^[3]

Music career[link]

DJ Drama's debut album, Gangsta Grillz: The Album, was released in December 2007 on the Grand Hustle label. The album's first street single, "Takin Pictures", was released in 2007 and featured Young Jeezy, Tre'Von McCall,(Producer)Willie the Kid, Jim Jones, Rick Ross, Young Buck and T.I.,^[4] while the first single, "5000 Ones", featuring Nelly, T.I., Yung Joc, Willie the Kid, Young Jeezy and Twista, debuted on BET.^[5] The second single, "The Art of Storytellin' Part 4", was released in 2008 with the help of long time friend Tre'Von McCall (Who did most of his beats) and featured OutKast and Marsha Ambrosius. In 2009, DJ Drama released his second album entitled Gangsta Grillz: The Album (Vol. 2), the first single was "Day Dreaming", which featured Akon, Snoop Dogg and T.I. The second single was "Ridiculous", which featured Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, Lonnie Mac and OJ da Juiceman. Both singles were released in 2009. DJ Drama releasd his third studio album, Third Power, on October 11th, 2011. The first single, "Oh My", featuring rappers Fabolous, Wiz Khalifa and Roscoe Dash was released on May 13th, the 2nd single, "Never See You Again", features female singer Talia Coles and rapper Wale.^[6] The Gangsta Grillz album reunites DJ Drama and Don Cannon who had gone their separate ways for a few years after a lot of fighting and arguing as business partners.^[7] Drama is married to video vixen Summer Walker.

Film career[link]

DJ Drama has appeared in T.I.'s ATL in 2006, and T-Pain's Freaknik: The Musical in 2010.

Discography[link]

• 2007: Gangsta Grillz: The Album
• 2009: Gangsta Grillz: The Album (Vol. 2)
• 2011: Third Power
• 2012: Quality Street Music^[8]

Awards[link]

• BET Hip Hop Awards
  • DJ of the Year (Nominated)

• Ozone Awards
  • 2008, Best Mixtape (Hood Generals) with BG (Won)
    • Note: The award was a tie with Chamillionaire's Mixtape Messiah 3^[9]

References[link]

Notes[link]

• Interview with DJ Drama's sister after the January 16th raid, Mixtapeshow.net, January 27, 2007
• April 2007 Interview, Allhiphop.com, April 2007
• Jeff Leeds, "Cracking down on mixtape CDs", New York Times, January 22, 2007
• Samantha M. Shapiro, "Hip-hop outlaw (industry version)", New York Times Magazine, February 18, 2007
• "Exclusive: DJ Drama Q&A", Rhapsody.com, January 11, 2008

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: DJ Drama

• Gangsta Grillz website
• The Aphilliates
• DJ Drama on Myspace
• DJ Drama at MTV
• DJ Drama at Allmusic