J. Cole

With five chart-topping albums as a solo artist, nine Top 40 pop singles as a headliner, and a dozen Grammy nominations, J. Cole is one of the most commercially successful rap artist of the 2010s. Each one of his number one full-lengths has gone platinum. Cole was the first artist signed to mentor Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. He has used his influence to support younger talent with his Dreamville Records.

Cole got into hip-hop through his stepfather's copy of 2Pacalypse Now. After numerous days spent outside Jay-Z's office in hopes of giving him a demo, he was shocked to be asked to contribute to The Blueprint 3, heard on 'A Star Is Born.' Cole signed with Roc Nation in 2010 and has only one mixtape in his discography, The Come Up. Cole signed with Roc Nation by the end of 2010; he issued two tapes for the label, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights. Born Sinner followed in 2013 and spawned singles such as the Miguel collaboration 'Power Trip.' Its 'No Role Models' scraped the Top 40 and preceded the parent release's Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Cole's album, 4 Your Eyez Only, was his least pop-oriented work to that point. In 2018, he released KOD, a dark and reflective cautionary recording that tackled subjects like mental health, drug dependency, and greed. Cole’s Revenge of the Dreamers series, released in 2019, yielded another headlining hit for Cole with 'Middle Child.'