Happy 29th birthday J. Cole! Jermaine Lamarr Cole, rapper and record producer, is best known by his stage name J. Cole. Cole was the first rap artist Jay Z signed to his label, Roc Nation, in 2009 and his first album debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart in 2011. Cole was greatly inspired by Tupac Shakur and he graduated magna cum laude from St. John’s University. Check out more Instagram pics of Cole in the gallery. –Joi Pearson