Apr 14, 2015

Another great thing about the dude is that it really could be anyone of us. A lot of rappers come from troubled backgrounds and I admire their success but I find it hard to relate to having to sell drugs or growing up in a troubled home. I hear Cole rap about his past and you can see he didn't come from a lot but both him and his family grinded to get to a better place. He went to school through loans and scholarships which is something I'm sure most of us here know about. It's just cool to hear him talking about tuition and Sallie Mae sometimes, it makes me think "d---, I'm gonna be alright".

Just another example that I remembered. I don't know how many of you are into cars but I have a Mitsubishi 3000GT from 98, the car is old but I get a lot of compliments on it and I worked hard for it so it's special to me. But sometime's I see dudes drive by in Beamers or Audis, and I start wishing that was me. Then Cole starts rapping about "always gone be a whip that's better than the one you got", s--- like that just makes you put stuff into perspective and really appreciate life, Cole is like audio therapy for me sometimes.

 

Apr 14, 2015

Post who you stan and why. Disclaimer: if your step dad ever told you "were going out back, i want my d-ck s----d in the shed" please do not post.

Cole probably has one of the strongest fan bases in the game today. I'll start by saying he was the one I could relate to the most. He was a college student with a dream When he won, it felt like we won just cause he was such an average/real person in a similar situation to a lot of us. The blow up from TWU to FNL to TSS was a crazy thing to watch and its still cool seeing him win (amongst his thousands of L's ). Also, you'll hear any stan say "it feels like we know the dude." s--- is hilarious but in reality we might, could just be any other student at school tryna make it. So yea, thats what made me a stan - dude had an average upbringing and worked his a--- off to make it, super relatable. What made you a stan of your favorite artist?

 

Apr 14, 2015

Heard about him in between The Warm Up and FNL era. First song I heard was We On and I knew he had some potential. FNL came out and I thought it was dope but didn't really dive into the project.

Heard The Return of Simba (seems like yesterday) and I knew it was over from that day forward. Re-listened to FNL and TWU and knew he was the one.
Personally, he started off as just mostly entertainment. I just liked his music because I thought it was dope. Nowadays its on a way more personal level. His music are just conversations in which he happens to be rhyming. His ability to identify with the common man is as great as any one in the game because yes he is one of us, he just happens to rap good. For some people thats boring, for me its the type of candor and straightforward depiction of reality that establishes a connection that is moving and inspiring. Even if I can't relate with a song like Crunch Time for example, I feel the pain and desperation. With songs like the Intro off FHD, I feel the pain because he's speaking about me and to me.

I always hear that he's the middle ground between Kendrick and Drake, which is definitely has some truth to it but it doesn't tell the whole story. In comparison he might speak on similar topics, but provides a completely different tone and perspective as seen by Untitled/Be Free, u/Intro, i/Love Yourz. The same reason Breakdown and It Won't Be Long are nothing like You and the 6 and Look What You've Done.

There is no one like Cole in the game despite what others try to tell you. It's the reason his fan base is so big without any hit singles. Thats the reason I've been playing Intro/January 28th almost every day since December.

And to think the Hypnotist is just getting started

 

Apr 14, 2015

First time I heard Cole was on A Star Is Born and Beautiful Bliss. And then I checked out TWU...probably late '09. I've listened to him non-stop since then. Nas and Pac were always my favorites. Cole's music evokes as much emotion for me as those two..maybe even more. He's not the most lyrical rapper and doesn't have a team of all-star producers...but his lyrics are highly relatable to me and he inspires hope. His production is more of a backdrop that allows him to paint pictures...his production fits with his style. From Get Up to 2Face to Breakdown to Runaway to Love Yourz. The guy just hits the right emotions. He really is one of us even after all the success. He has a special gift of connecting with everyday people through his music.

 

Apr 14, 2015

Back in 2009, around late July, I seen MTV post a "Top Mixtapes of 2009(so far)" article read it and seen Drake listed and other artist who I can't think of right now, but I scrolled threw the comment section and seen Cole's name/ The Warm Up kept popping up . I go to HipHopDx and looked up his mixtape, listened to the Intro, Welcome, and first part of Can I Live then stopped was like oh s--- lemme go download it and listen to it properly. I was blown away man, I researched this n----- tryna find more music by him, straight stalking 2dopeboyz.com for some new Cole. Then in August '09 he dropped "Back to the Topic freestyle" and that's what sold me along with "Show Me Something" I remember lurking JColeFanPage before JCN, I know @ODB, some dude named African who had the "exclusive" s---, they used act a fool in the chat box lol. Man Cole transitioned me from my favorite rapper of the early 2000's to my favorite rapper of the 2010's. At that time I was still a big 50 fan, always on Thisis50.com in straight denial about him falling off back then, I struggled filling in that void but the lightskin Jesus came out of nowhere and saved me fam

 

Apr 14, 2015

In 2007, the beginning of my senior year in college, I stumbled upon Cole (don't know how). He dropped the come up. The rest is history. I could relate to a lot of the s--- he was talking about. The warm up solidified my stannery! Haven't looked back since. He spits real s---. #coleworld

 

Apr 14, 2015

I was going through a Dead Presidents freestyle binge on YouTube, I stumbled into Cole's and started going through all the songs on the Warm Up, I've been listening to him ever since then. I'm in college right now so I can relate now too like you can, but I remember being in 10th grade and staying up all night Thursday going into Friday cuz he said he was gonna drop FNL on the dreamville blog that night, only got two hours of sleep and no mix tape. It ended up dropping Friday right after school though so I just played Xbox and listened to it all night.

 

Apr 14, 2015

 

Apr 14, 2015

I saw his name come up here and there and i was getting bored of the s--- that was out, so i decided to look him up on youtube one day. heard some s--- i liked enough to look deeper into it and found out fnl was dropping pretty soon. when fnl came out it was a wrap.
What made me a stan tho was probably was relatability as well. I was a young dude just going to parties on weekends and f---ing girls there and I remember always feeling some guilt cus i had a girl I actually liked. when I heard fnl, there was multiple lines that connected personally. that's just one example but the s--- he was talking about was so down to earth even if I didn't directly relate to it, it was refreshing and interesting to hear and feel what he was saying.

 

Apr 14, 2015

i started stanning drake pretty much when he came out. I was on youtube and he had a dead presidents freestyle, i saw a couple of comments saying "j cole is so much better" " j cole murked this beat". Now 9/10 when a youtube comment says someone did a better job, I don't even pay attention, but i was feeling some sort of way and youtubed that s---. My reaction was like

Noticed that the warm up had only been out for a couple months before so downloaded that s--- and it was a wrap. Then eventually got American dreaming, the come up.

it's all about the consistency imo. Ill stan an artist hard when they release good music persistently . There are random youtube n----s with like 2000 views that I stan.



Edit - is this really life. Dead president fan too ha ^

 

Apr 14, 2015

I stan Cole for sure, found out about him back in high school from a friend's FB post, I think I listened to Can I Live as the very first song and then Hold it Down, into Lil Ghetto Nikka & Last Stretch, those songs especially hit me and I was hooked. I moved here from the Dominican Republic but I was never a "typical" Dominican and stayed to myself. Around that time I went through a lot with a girl, my parents marriage deteriorating, and losing a cousin of mine so it all felt like my life in the form of words and rhythms.

Needless to say I went on a binge of all his music and there were just so many great tracks, I didn't use to listen to music like that back then but I had to listen to his stuff. Definitely transitioning to a college student here in NY made the connection even stronger. I remember waiting on FNL, waiting on CW:SS & hoping for good first week sales, I still can't say that he's made tracks that have resonated with me more than those four and I don't know if he ever will,(Although, 2Face, Farewell, & Breakdown are sooooo close) but these tracks will always be the reason why it always started

 

Apr 14, 2015

Used to always see those "J.Cole>Drake" comments everywhere and I remember hearing his verse on A Star Is Born a year before so I thought I'll check his music out later. This was during my senior year in high school and unsure what career/life direction I was gonna take. I was told FNL was really dope so I downloaded it and I was instantly hooked. The content hit really close to home and his upbringing was eerily identical to mine so like most of ya'll mentioned it was really easy to root for his success which in turn made us believe we could do it too.

 

Apr 14, 2015

J. Cole
When I was in 8th grade a kid in my science class was listening to Blow Up on Pandora radio and I went home and looked it up and J. Cole has been my dude ever since. I've seen him twice and gonna make it a 3rd time this year in Chitown!

Kendrick Lamar
J. Cole produced HiiiPower. Listened to that and checked out the rest of Section 80 and I was instantly hooked. I remember telling people that Kendrick Lamar will eventually be one of the GOATs.

Big KRIT
He was introduced to me back in my freshman year by a guy I know that produces. (he's dope btw, search Nate Sims beats) I think I really got hooked onto KRIT when I heard Money On The Floor. That beat is absolute fire.

Those are the three guys I stan. I don't stan them much anymore because I love all music.

 

Apr 14, 2015

I started stanning J. Cole after FNL. My cousin put me on to his music and the first song I heard was 'Problems' thought that song was ok. Then I discovered TWU and I thought his music was pretty good, but when I heard FNL I became a stan. I was just a teenager mad at my dad and s---. When I heard 'Enchanted' that s--- really resonated with me. His music is so relatable it almost felt like he knew my life story. FNL was the only thing I listened everyday for a few months. Ever since then I've been following him.

 

Apr 14, 2015

I started stanning Rocky when i heard his verse in Hands On The Wheel

 

Apr 14, 2015

I started stanning Kendrick when i heard Control on youtube

 

Apr 14, 2015

This will bring the em stans out of their pit

... I mean, pls don't

 

Apr 14, 2015

Was a college student and Friends made me listen to a few of his songs. In the morning was a masterpiece, then heard higher on a camping trip. Then downloaded all his music and first few songs on shuffle was Dreams and Show me Something. Was a stan ever since.

The relatability was key, being a college student, worrying about the future, girls, and paying off loans. Watching him Blow Up and all his success was huge for me as well. His Low-key GOAT interviews, he tries to stay out of the spotlight but at the same time he just keeps winning.