Quote

I pay attention to lyrics and I know what rap fans care about. I try to write for the average listener and I'm conscious of the mainstream without selling out.

J. Cole

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

J. Cole
Age: 39
Born: 1985
Born: January 28
Film Director
Film Producer
Music Producer
Rapper
Recording Artist
Singer
Songwriter
Frankfurt/Main
Kill Edward
Jermaine Lamarr Cole
Hollwywood Cole
Attention
Lyrics
Write
Mainstream
Care
Rap
Without
Selling
Writing
Average
Trying
Conscious
Pay
Listener
Fans
Listeners

More quotes by J. Cole

Image
I yearn for that livin' large, but mama I ain't done yet/Sit back and watch your son rise, kick back and know your son set
J. Cole
Image
I'm half-black, half-white, so I basically put it like this: I can fit in anywhere. That's why I write so many stories from so many different perspectives, because I've seen so many.
J. Cole
Image
I'm not a conscious rapper, all those things we talk about, the struggle, the pain, the outlook to the future, keep your head up. I try to put all those positive things into a regular human character, which is myself.
J. Cole
Image
Anything's possible, you gotta dream like you never seen obstacles.
J. Cole
Image
I think all you can really do is use the tour to kinda fill up with experiences and thoughts, and then, when you get back to the studio, or in some type of creative environment, that's when you release everything that you've encountered on tour.
J. Cole
Image
I'm the same kid who used to hop the trains with headphones and just go to downtown Manhattan, walk around and listen to music or walk through the city. The fame restricts that. It's a small complaint in comparison to the benefits I get from it, but the restrictive part is what I don't like - and the fact that it's not reversible.
J. Cole
Image
My parents were divorced by the time I was even conscious - like I don't remember them ever being together.
J. Cole
Image
There was the time I bought three cars in the span of three or four weeks. It was crazy it wasn't greedy. It was mine, my girl's, my mom's. I got Benzes for my ladies. But I felt crazy. You have to understand I come from a world where we're very modest. But that's not greedy. That's nice, right?
J. Cole
Image
Promise to my momma I'ma make it to the Top.. So I'ma keep climbing til my heartbeat drop
J. Cole
Image
I was a class clown. At 12, I was definitely clowning. I was making all the jokes. But I was smart, so the teachers didn't know what to do with me.
J. Cole
Image
When composing music, I just start spilling things out and then wait until they take form, you know what I mean, until I see like a common thread or something.
J. Cole
Image
School is a good place - it ain't for everybody, but I think it's for most people.
J. Cole
Image
You can't reverse fame. You can lose all the money, but you'll never lose people knowing you.
J. Cole
Image
While silly ni**as argue over who gon' snatch the crown / Look around my ni**a, white people have snatched the sound / This year I'll probably go to the awards dappered down / Watch Iggy win a Grammy as I try to crack a smile.
J. Cole
Image
My fans love me for me, my beats, my rhymes.
J. Cole
Image
Sometimes I try a Mai Tai. It's so fruity. It's a little embarrassing, but I like it.
J. Cole
Image
I never really told anybody that I'm a rapper. I wasn't walking around being like, Yo, check out my mixtape! It was more of a secret grind.
J. Cole
Image
My Mother's an actress, and she's always told me, Boy, you're an actor. I would look forward to seeing if I'm any good. I want to be good at it, that's the only thing.
J. Cole
Image
In my mind, New York was the place where they had the underground rap shows and I could get in on some ciphers and just rap. This whole fantasy world I had created in my head about New York just from listening to the music my whole life, like, I'ma go up there and do that. But when I came up here, there was none of that, that scene was dead.
J. Cole
Image
I now possess the tools as a producer and a songwriter to really just go out and make smashes all day long. I could make an album full of smash records that got pop appeal. But my heart is in hip-hop. My heart is in telling stories. And it's like therapy for me.
J. Cole