J.Cole speaks with Live With Steve Lobel about studying Jay Z’s moves and his mentorship, plus connecting with Tupac Shakur’s music at the early age of seven.
The J.Cole reveals that Jay Z was his mentor long before he even signed with Roc Nation in 2009. The North Carolina rapper says he studied Jay’s moves prior to signing with him and said he took away a few “gems” from the Brooklyn rapper when he was given the chance to tour with him.
“Jay was mentor before I ever signed to him,” J. Cole said in a video posted on BlurredCulture.com. “I studied his moves that much…I got to go on tour with him and steal a lot of gems. That’s how you supposed to do it. You’re supposed to learn and take pieces from the greatest. So, Jay was my mentor before I ever signed to him. And now that I signed to him it’s just a blessing to be able to hit him for advice and get that real 20 years of experience or however long he been in the game. It’s priceless.”
Jay wasn’t the only influence for the NC rapper. Tupac’s Shakur played a major part in Cole’s love for hip-hop. He explains that even at the age of seven, Tupac’s words resonated with him.
“My favorite rapper was Pac,” he said. “He was my favorite rapper before I even started rapping. Before I even thought of—It went from Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown as a kid and artists like that. Even Kool Moe Dee. Just the cool dude that I looked up to. And then one day my stepfather came home from—I don’t know if he was back from Desert Storm…I remember him coming home with that first Pac album. With ‘Brenda’s Got A Baby.’ It was 2Pacalypse Now. And since then—When I was too young to know what he was talking about, but it connected. Cause that’s the thing about art. It’s just truth. It’s straight—Whatever you feel. So, even as a seven-year-old kid, eight-year-old kid I could hear Pac’s early albums and feel the truth.”
Watch J.Cole’s interview below, and find out what he has to say about not being “in tuned” with new music.
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