by Shawn Nowlin
In the fall of 2008, a relatively unknown artist with worldly aspirations invited his day-one supporters to the studio to get their honest feedback on his upcoming mixtape, “Friday Night Lights.”
The artist at the time said to his fans, “I always feel like it’s two ingredients when it comes to following your dreams, making something happen that the average person deems difficult. If you truly believe it, that’s step one. Step two is, you know, the hard work that goes along with it.”
Currently that artist, Jermaine Lamarr Cole isn’t just a household name nationwide; he is a true global icon. But long before he was packing stadiums across different continents, he was a teenager with a dream.
A 2003 Terry Sanford High graduate with a 4.2 grade point average, Cole had plenty of options at his disposal after earning his diploma.
Instead of attending an in-state school like UNC, Wake Forest or Duke, the Fayetteville native accepted an academic scholarship to St. John’s University in New York City in hopes of securing a recording contract.
A communications major, Cole served as the president of Haraya, a pan-African student coalition. By the time he graduated magna cum laude in 2007, he released two critically acclaimed mixtapes, “The Come Up” and “The Warm Up.”
The first time that Roanoke native Kyla Walker heard Cole on the internet, she knew that she was listening to untapped potential.
“Even back then, his combination of expansive sonic experimentation and airtight lyricism was second to none,” she said. “While it’s true that I’m a day-two fan, I feel like I’ve grown with J. Cole over the years. Not many emcees can grow with their core audience. There is a reason why he’s an all-time great.”
In 2009, Cole became the first artist to sign with Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s imprint. When an artist signs to a major label, what often happens is that they lose touch with what got them in that position in the first place.
Judith Cage can attest that Cole is the same humble person today that he was when he first burst on the scene. The entrepreneur credits the Dreamville Founder for helping make her dream come true.
A decade ago, while on the set for one of his music videos, she received her first $10,000 check for her catering service. Today, she owns two restaurants – Uptown Chicken & Waffles and The Ville Wings & Bar in North Carolina.
Despite having a net worth of over $65 million, the multi-time Grammy winner has been driving across the country with his childhood friends in his first car, a 1994 Honda Civic, to sell copies of his latest CD for $1.00.
When Cole tweeted that he would be in Virginia on Feb. 10, Roanoke County resident Jamie Anderson used her PTO at work for a chance to meet her favorite musician.
“How many artists of his stature would drive to different states to not only take pictures, but also engage with fans? The answer is not many,” she said. “He could not have been a nicer guy. When he told me to stay the course with my life goals, I broke down into tears.”
Cole’s lyrics from his 2014 song “Love Yourz” is a message for all to hear: “Always going to be a car better than the one you got, always going to be some clothes fresher than the ones you rock, always going to be a bigger house somewhere, feel me, long as the people in that house love you dearly.”
