During the days when South by Southwest was a little less Hip Hop-centric, J. Cole spent time canvassing Austin pushing $1 copies of his The Come Up mixtape. The strategy may have earned the Roc Nation star some additional buzz, but Cole says he learned a valuable lesson about reaching the largest number of fans possible with his mixtapes.
“That weekend we only got out 700 copies and even that was a task,” Cole said during an appearance in Austin this week. “Fast forward to my next mixtape, and I had it figured out—I cut straight to the case and went via the Internet.”
The success that followed The Come Up, The Warm Up 
and now Friday Night Lights , put J. Cole in a place where he had an established group of core fans as well as fringe listeners who were drawn in by his buzz. It’s a situation similar to Lil B and his use of the Internet to gain more exposure. The comparisons were apparently not lost on those in attendance who asked J. Cole his initial impressions of “The Based God.”
“Let’s say you think he can’t rap—you see what I did there?” Cole explained. “If that’s true, there’s something genius about what’s being done where he has all this attention. Talent doesn’t matter if you have vision and marketing and buzz.”
what album/cd is the song with him an drake thas getin played on the radio? is it his single??
Dude really?? its called “Hit it in the morning”
and its a remix.
It’s called In The Morning. It’s on the Friday Night Lights mixtape.
yeah really no mixtape fan here dnno nothing bout them mixtapes on the real
i do rocks to gucci maine mixtapes an thats only because all his mixtapes be hotter then his studio/label albums
waitin for j.cole album
Alot of ppl’s mixtapes be better than their albums…. We all waiting on J. Cole’s album.
U should go get up on those mixtapes bro…. Start with “The Warm Up” and then download “Friday Night Lights” and believe me its worth your time.
Especially if u can sit through a Gucci mixtape lol
@ilexx
absolute co-sign bro, those mixtapes are literally all I can listen to right now. dude has so much talent it’s selfish
Im so tired of lames getting credit for their “hustle”. Only in the rap game is your actual talent secondary. In every other thing in life you need actual TALENT! I guess thats why everybody and they momma raps. You actually need to be good at it.
completely disagree. there are NBA players that have had long careers based off of hustle and heart alone and many others have succeeded using the same strategy. sometimes hard work can take ppl places that talent cannot. perfect example of someone thats had a long nba career off of hustle & heart is brian scalabrine and chuck hayes (not a long career yet but he’s proven he’s valuable even though he’s too small for his position and cant shoot worth shyt)…
@white milk…where did the person mention the NBA? And what does that have to do with “rapping”?
@JG3 I dunno if you are missing something but ExFan said “Only in the rap game is your actual talent secondary.”
Which is why @whitemilk went off about NBA players who have no talent but have a career.
Just read ppl… just read..
@llex – The NBA is the hardest professional sport to get into, you can’t compare it to rap. Yes hard work and hustle goes far, but to be in the NBA your balling with the best basketball players in the world. you need talent.
*you actually DONT need to be good at it
Did he really just say talent is not necessary if you have marketing and buzz?? WTF??!!
whatcha mean WTF? its true!!!
It’s true, Lil B and Soulja Boy and Lil Wayne have no talent at all.
Lil wayne has talent. He just rarely uses it to its full extent.
willow smith>>>lil wayne
Slim Thug feat. Kanye West & Bun B – In The Streets
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/slim-thug-feat-kanye-west-bun ]
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Slim Thug feat. Kanye West & Bun B – In The Streets
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/slim-thug-feat-kanye-west-bun ]
—
Rap is like the wwe talent has taken a backseat to gimmicks.
that’s not a diss to lil b.
Rap aint about having talent anymore.. You can make a gimmick to sell.
there’s a market for everything… and yes, shitty rap is included.
Dont give that bitch any props. Young based god lmao. Bitches on his dick cause he looks like a faggot
cole world all hail base god #swag
Lil b is hilarious. his shit is so ridiculously bad that its funny to listen to so it has replay value.there’s nothing funny about listening to soulja boy or new boyz
lil b can drink a bottle of bleach
Anybody can drink a bottle of bleach..
J.Cole, Lil B, Diggy, Lil Twist and The Gift the best up incoming hip hop artist right now period.
yo i hear waka flocka got gucci mayne’s dick tatooed on the inside of his esophagus, thats real love right there thats how a real thug sho luv. gucci mayne is so iccy boi, even though the illuminati branded him with an ice cream cone. see, the illuminati be tryin to subjugate the smartest niggas in the game. thats why they targeted gucci mayne, because his like mindification is straight genius son! read gucci’s essay on fabian’s dialectics of movement of freedom.yo i just finished gucci mayne’s paper on india, where he discusses how the post nehruvian dialectics have been affected by Brahmanistic horizontal stratification, and how that contrasts to the increased democratic participation of the various sub-altern groups
yea man gucci’s dissertation on the weak nuclear force’s impact of subatomic interactions is fascinating. the correlation he provides between gluons and the various spins of quarks has had a huge impact on the multi dimensional construct of string theory
Wtf? Hell yeah talent matters because that’s what’s gonna keep you paid! LONGEVITY, my brother. Being a fad today means – that after you fall off & you will (i.e. Soulja Boy), the fans are not gonna let you back in tomorrow. There is know comeback album from a 1 hit wonder and I don’t thing this lil fuck Lil B got a hit to begin with. He says crazy shit, which catches people off guard but then they move on.
From reading this, J. Cole probably should have grind a little more. Since he from the South, he shoulda milked the market for what its worth then used Jay’s cosign to catapult success in NY. Next, he could have collaborated with underground artist from the left coast. Finally, his internet hustle could soak up the rest of the globe & his album woulda been out by now.
Slim Thug feat. Kanye West & Bun B – In The Streets
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/slim-thug-feat-kanye-west-bun ]
Chino XL feat. Young Jeezy – Glass House
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/glass-house-chino-xl-young ]
Young Buck feat. Wordsworth, Royce Da 5’9″ & Lil’ Wayne – Lost My Mind
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/y ]
Royce Da 5’9″ feat. Large Pro & AZ – The Come Up
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/royce-da-59-feat-large-pro-az ]
Asheru feat. 7L & Esoteric – Just Think
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/just-think-feat-7l-esoteric ]
2Pac feat. Warren G & Method Man – Moments In Time
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/moments-in-time-feat-warren-g ]
Praverb the Wyse – 1Mic [hunkEmix]
[ http://soundcloud.com/hunke/praverb-the-wyse-1mic ]
Musician yes guitar player yes. Just moved back to Hollywood California. Material is done for an album just about, but I am also offering my guitar servies for studio session work, gigs for people needing a guitar player, touring, or even joining or starting a band. Don’t ou know how many artists are going with the live band sound these days? I’m still all about the dj’s and producers making beats but lets put some live guitar over that stuff rather it be in the studio or live on stage. Here is the link to my youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bryantc1000&aq=f here you will see things like soul from a guitar player, and a tribute to people like 2 pac, jimi hendrix, and yes even Michael Jackson. Check it out let me know if your interested. My email is leaving.carter@gmail.com
Thank you,
Bryant C