Dreamville’s J. Cole is letting loose all types of gems fresh from dropping his The Off-Season album. The hip-hop star has dished on all types of eye-opening topics including plans to drop the mic for good nearly 10 years ago.
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J. Cole Was Ready To Retire In ’14
In a new “The ETC With Kevin Durant” podcast interview, Cole didn’t hold back on admitting he saw himself leaving hip-hop as early as his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album dropping in December 2014.
“I genuinely had thoughts of retiring after Forest Hill Drive. I was so happy and content, but I was like ‘if you did that, are you happy with everything, did you achieve everything.’ The first thing that came to my mind was ‘Honestly, bro I want to bar n**gas up again. I personally miss that feeling from being a kid just knowing that I got some sh*t right now that’s better than any of you n***as from a verse and song standpoint.” (“The ETC With Kevin Durant”)
Cole also talked bout his dream of playing basketball professional. Jermaine contemplated juggling both a music and potential NBA career.
“When I signed my deal, I quietly told myself ‘You’re only 24, if you can blow up in three years, you still got time to train and try to do this [play basketball professionally].’ I was already doing the math at 24. It never goes away because I just love it that much and I’m just a ridiculous dreamer” (“The ETC With Kevin Durant”)
Drake + Kendrick Lamar Aren’t Competition
In the same interview, Cole acknowledged the success of himself and longtime friends Kendrick Lamar and Drake. J also admitted he previously viewed them more as competition than collaboration opportunities.
“I would assume it’s just like basketball… I was so competitive early on, even though we were all friends… I’ve never been a ‘reach-out’ especially when there’s competition involved. It’s almost like working out together – in the NBA that was unheard of, but I was like ‘why would I work out with this n***a, I’m trying to destroy this n***a and that was my mentality early on. As I’ve gotten older, no one is truly my peer or can relate to what I’m going through in life more than these people [Drake and Kendrick]… the competition part I’ve stripped away and I’m more interested in the relationship.” (“The ETC With Kevin Durant”)
Cole drops rare radio freestyle
J. Cole recently gave fans an appetizer ahead of his May 14 album release, dropping a rare radio freestyle. The ballplayer/MC attacked two iconic beats in one session to remind everyone he remains one of the best in the game.
Almost 12 years in the making, North Carolina and the Los Angeles Leakers finally collide for Freestyle #108 featuring one of this generation’s greatest hip-hop artists, @J. Cole.
J. Cole comes to terms with retiring from rap
Recent headlines might have you believe J. Cole is attempting to juggle full-time careers in both music and basketball. But the Dreamville boss could actually be retiring from his day job sooner than later. Around the same time it was announced that Cole will be joining a pro basketball league in Africa, the 36-year-old revealed in an interview with SLAM the idea of retiring from music is on the table.
“Oh, bro, I’m super comfortable with the potential of being done with this sh*t. But I’m never going to say, ‘Oh, this is my last album.’ … Because I never know how I’m going to feel two years, three years, four years down the line, 10 years down the line, but please believe, I’m doing all this work for a reason. … I’m doing all this work to be at peace with, ‘If I never did another album, I’m cool.’”