Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985), better known as his stage name J. Cole (often stylized as J.Cole), is an American rapper and producer. He is best known for being the first artist to be signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation.
Life and career
Cole was born in Frankfurt, Germany and, before the age of 1, moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he was raised by his mother. He is of mixed-race, being born to a Black father and a White mother. 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 attended St. John's University on an academic scholarship where he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude.
Cole started rapping at the age of 12 when his cousin showed him the basics of rhyming. Inspired by Canibus, Nas, Tupac Shakur and Eminem, J. Cole developed a love for telling stories in his lyrics. At age 15, J. Cole had notebooks filled with rhymes but not beats of his own to record them with. His mother bought him a beat machine so he could produce music himself. By the age of 17, he was posting songs on internet forums such as canibus-central.com under the moniker "Therapist".
