J. Cole’s first single off his upcoming Roc Nation debut is ready to go, but he’s got to clear a Kanye West sample before releasing the track. The Fayetteville, North Carolina native recently explained during a UStream chat that he’s waiting on the issue to be resolved and he’ll be good to go.
“I just have to update y’all on the single. We said it’d come out this week. It’s ready to go, it’s mixed and mastered, it’s just the sample clearance,” he said, noting that he encountered a similar issue with “Who Dat,”
of which he’ll release the original version this summer.
“Now, the single I’m about to put out – which I love to death and I really wish I could have put it out before Memorial Day Miami because it’s such a theme song for this shit – the thing is, I sampled a Kanye West song. When y’all hear how I did the sample, it’s so great. I love it. But I sampled the song, and the problem is, there’s like five writers on the song that he gave credit to and got publishing on the song,” he continued. “Everything happens for a reason. Just pray that as soon as it clears, we’re gonna put it out. […] I can’t wait ‘til y’all hear the sample and the original and how I did it. Nobody obviously thought to flip it like that, or even would have heard that part.”
As for his debut album, he says it’s completed and has a release date, though he’s hoping to put it out on a different date. “I just finished the album. I’ll probably still be working and changing stuff up until the moment they tell me I got to turn it in,” he said. “I kinda got a date now, but I’m not really satisfied with it. I’ll give y’all… it’s a two-part album title.”
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The 15-track album will also feature a collaboration with Jay-Z. “I did the song for Jay. Finally. Finally, finally. It’s fucking crazy,” said Cole, who hopes to put out his sophomore album shortly after his debut. “[I’m] probably about 70 percent of the second album. I’m tryna drop two in a year. I’m tryna come back like eight, nine months after. I ain’t really tell them yet.”
In the meantime, Cole will hit the road with Rihanna this summer, working on a non-mixtape project with Kendrick Lamar and crafting beats for Wale. “Me and Kendrick Lamar, it’s not a mixtape. It’s too good to be called a mixtape,” he said. “That’s my goal. When I’m on the road for the next two months on the Rihanna [tour], is to do straight beats on the bus. Kendrick’s my top priority, and then Wale, too. I been telling my nigga Fab I’ve been going to give something to him for so long. I’m slackin’ bad. My nigga Fab.”
