In the first interview since the release of The Fall-Off, J. Cole was introspective and direct, talking about the path to today and the rappers who were with him on it.
Early Influence
The whole concept of the album is a look back at the years that built him up as an artist. And we have already had a glimpse of the artists who influenced young Cole, as he put the photo of his childhood bedroom on the album cover. Its walls were plastered with posters, a sign of Cole’s interest in music. Of course, Eminem’s poster was right up there.
Cole offers a very straightforward metric to determine who your favourite is. It’s the one you listen to the most. Essentially, in this system, it is inevitable and understandable that Cole has become his own favourite rapper. Yet before that, he went through phases, tuning in to one legendary artist after another, honing his skills, broadening his horizons, and always learning.
“Pac was my favourite rapper”, J. Cole starts with the name nobody can argue with. “I had a Canibus run, where he was my favourite rapper. I had an Eminem run, and of course I had a Nas run”.
Earlier, in other interviews, Cole also included Royce 5’9 on this list, as part of the influence.
Recognition From Eminem
Eventually, J. Cole has found his own voice. And the artists he was looking up to started giving him flowers back. On “Favorite Bitch” from Music to Be Murdered By – Side B, Marshall reflected on the Golden era of hip hop and acknowledged new talents, spelling out Cole’s name:
It’ll never be the same
As the era when we came
From Nas to Pac, Rock, Eric B, and Kane
But I know a few from this era that are lyrically insane
Although most are never gonna hit the level Cole or Weezy at.
Later, Marshall explained why he singled Cole out on this song and what criteria a good rapper must meet for him. It is about hunger, about race against yourself. “Nas, Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Joyner Lucas rap to be the best rapper”, he said in the interview with Zane Lowe.
