J. Cole has the luxury of being the first rapper to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label. But while Jay-Z acts as J. Cole’s mentor, he was not the first rapper to influence J. Cole lyrically. During a recent interview with rolling out magazine, J. Cole revealed how the rapper Canibus inspired his witty punchlines and lyrics.
“I started rapping out of fun,” J. Cole said. “My cousin was rapping and I thought he was cool. But when I got the Can-I-Bus album in 1998, I knew he was rapping on another level. Nas and OutKast were great rappers and it was hard to do what they were doing lyrically, but I was drawn to Canibus’s punchlines. During that time, freestyle battles were big. So I decided to get wittier with my punchlines and wordplay after hearing that album.”
J. Cole’s debut album Cole World will be released on Sept 27. Log on to rollingout.com daily for more original articles, videos and the exclusive cover story on J. Cole.–amir shaw
