During J. Cole’s Born Sinner listening session in New York City, the North Carolina emcee shared the details of how his “Let Nas Down” record came about. The lengthy story from the rapper detailed his various meetings with Jay-Z, which consisted of Cole playing records he thought would be singles for his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story.
After numerous attempts at a single, Cole became inspired to create “Work Out,” a song that would ultimately become his album single, after listening to Kanye West’s College Dropout record “The New Workout Plan” in a hotel room.
“Towards the end of all that, there was a diamond in the rough. There was like a shining moment for me,” he revealed in a video posted on XXLMag.com. “One night I was in this hotel room after a show and I was listening to College Dropout, as I do. And on the worst song on that album, which is my favorite album, so I’m not dissing. But on the worse song on that album, ‘Workout Plan,’ I heard the shit that I had been hearing for like—eight years now. I heard it different as a producer like ‘oh shit’…I made a rough version of the beat right there in the hotel room. By the time I got back to Europe a few days later I had ‘Work Out.’”
Cole later spoke on being nearly devastated when many, including Queensbridge lyricist Nas and producer No I.D., were far from impressed with the record.
“My partner gets a call from No I.D…And he’s like ‘Yo, who approved this shit? Who’s behind this? Ya’ll standing behind this shit’…He finally did call me a week later and he was explaining to me like ‘To tell you the truth I was in the studio with Nas man and that nigga was like ‘Yo, why the fuck that nigga make that shit? He don’t know he the one’’…I’m getting defensive, but really I was just hurt as a fan. I idolized that dude. I had his raps written on my walls,” Cole explained.
J. Cole’s sophomore album, Born Sinner, will be released on June 18.
RELATED: J. Cole “Born Sinner” Release Date, Cover Art & Tracklist
Yo whattup son I heard the song and thought it was kinda corny
dude can rap but is boring and has no ear for beats.
I agree. Macklemore needs to step his game up.
Wrong rapper.
Wow this dude can’t rap, he’s boring and depressed and he dickrides Nas more than Game does, seriously who names a song after a rapper who thinks youre wack.
That Born Sinner Leaked Out Today, J. Cole really Came through on this one, yall check it out and let me know what yall think.
www. HipHopGood .com
Not a J cole fan at all, he’s obviously an industry puppet. But fuck what Nas thinks… This is the same nigga that cosign that wakaflock bullshit… his opinion is null and void.
Its also corny that he would make a song dedicated to nas, thats some homo shit if I ever heard it…
No, fucking another man in the butt is “homo shit”. Dedicating a song to someone who you look up to is not. You sound insecure as fuck.
what’s gayish is that he went and made a dedication song called ‘let nas down’ talking about how hurt his feelings were because nas made some offhand comment talkin bout ‘why he make this? he was on track, why he go and do this?’ sayin he wasn’t feelin that weak-azz record
…says the guy who just doesnt “get it”…art is like that sometimes dick lips…
calling another guy ‘dick lips’ is as gay as it gets, you fucking faggot…
kanye’s big brother was homo not this
dope song….finally
could still be realer
hip hop about, Dope Beats, Rhymes and Cuts
what is a cut?
when apollo brown cuts up vocals for a sample
Elzhi – That’s That One
Hassaan Mackey & Apollo Brown – Megaphone
Nas – Nas is Like
Who Dat>>>Work Out / Work out is the wackiest song on his album probably the only wack song on his debut /
who dat was raw
Yeah, dedicating a song to another artist is corny, but remember Cole is young, and probably still trying to find his way in the music biz. I’m sure years from now, if he’s still around, he won’t care who thinks what and will just let the music speak for itself.
Kanye Big brother is wack too right paying homage that those who paved a lane for you is corny lol
born sinner > cole world > maddcity
and I bet you didnt buy not 1 of them albums…typical gump ass opinionated troll…who cares what you would rather…
I bet if 2Pac dropped Me Against The World in 2013 niggas would be like, “man, this nigga boring, and stressful, all he rap about is death, and wanting to die”. Hip Hop fans are the most critical, and emotion fans ive ever seen, aint no pleasing you niggas, if I were a rapper, I would be like fuck it, ima drop this music, either you like it or you don’t, this is what I got to say, take it or leave it.
That shit Joe Budden said a while ago after they put out that slaughterhouse album was some real shit, fuck the fans, either you fuck with it, or you don’t.
Niggas be acting like rappers owe them something,
but royce was down for hearing the fans out and giving them what they want
FUCK J.Cole
I Mean seriously, this guy cant take critisism…
Nas should just sue that bitch J.Cole for using his name without permission
I guess Rakim should sue Nas for the Unauthorized Autobiography of Rakim on the Street’s Disciple album then? Thats, right.. shut the fuck up!
UBR >>>>>>>>>> This worthless shit.
you gotta love the comments man…its all of 16 comments that aint about shit! yall so mind warped and brain washed that you lack the ability to listen to a song and NOT have an opinion! Hell even if you heard a new age “classic song” yall are so brain fucked you wouldnt even know how to identify with it or what it would sound like! sometimes its ok to sit back…SHUT THE FUCK UP…and just…be…
j cole thinks too highly of himself
He learned that from Nas.
j cole thinks too highly of himself
Postedan hour ago | Reply
Anonymous:
He learned that from Nas.
ITS CALLED AMBITION. BELIEVING IN ONES SELF- CONFIDENCE – YOU FAGGOTS AINT GOT THE 1ST CLUE
“Hip Hop fans are the most critical, and emotion fans ive ever seen”
^ what makes you think these comments are from true and real Hip Hop fans? You should go to the Macklemore post that was just up and see the audience you’re speaking to and realize that anyone with an internet connection can comment here.
THIS ARTICLE DID NOT GIVE ME ANY INSIGHT AT ALL ON HOW THE SONG WAS INSPIRED OR CONCEIVED…
This song is so pointless…I don’t get why he made it. First he randomly raps a verse from “nas is like” then he tells us that nas didn’t like his song (rightfully so, because that song sucked)…then its a bunch of random shit for next verses. He doesn’t tell us about a follow up meeting with nas, or what he learned from that, or anything. It just seems like he wanted to name drop Nas in a song….
It was a tribute. It details how disappointed Cole was when Nas his idol said he wasn’t feeling his song. the songs also talks about the impositions of record labels on artists. trying to have them have a poppy radio single before their album drops. Step ur thinking game up.
I knew someone would respond to this and try to over complicate his simplistic, meaningless, song. Step my thinking game up? Are you a fucking idiot or something? lol The song isn’t deep, it’s exactly what I said, stop trying to make it out to be more then it actually is.
go fuck urself. if u don’t like the song, don’t listen to it. i loved the song dope verses, classic sax sample and it made me know more about the inside business of record labels. you still sound like u lack a thinking faculty in ur brain.
hahah its simplistic cuz ur mind is closed lol
At the end of the day (like i tell my younger brother of 26)
FUCK WHAT PEOPLE THINK, U GOTTA BE A LEADER (SHEPHERD) NOT A FUCKING DUMB SHEEP- DO WHAT MAKES (YOU HAPPY)
YOU ONLY HAVE 1 LIFE- HATERS WILL NOT BE REMEMBERED. WE ALL DIE, BUT NOT EVERYBODY LIVES
cool story bro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By5tsg2I8II
NAS FLOW.
Nas may be a legend but I always questioned his sexuality
u can’t question the sexuality of a rapper whos been getting girls since 18, had his first kid at 20, been in tumultuous relationships with women like kepis. u must be gay, seriously
So did Kelis until the checks start rolling in.
damn that beat with the sax!!!
Nas your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper, pay homage respect.
i didn’t know Ice cube’s fav rapper was Nas
Actually, my favorite rapper thinks Nas is a sucker for love, but I digress.
Hush child.
j.cole is such a safe little pussy. god damn man. what a clown.
you think nas was gonna come with a song like “let rakim down” on his sophomore album?
nah he wrote a biography of rakim that was incredible like 15 years into his career, when he himself was a legend.
j.cole has got to be one of the blandest, weakest, lamest, “stars” in rap. the guy bores me to tears and i fail to see what anyone sees in him other than he’s jay-z artist.
Co-sign…
Alright! A not for the negative ignorant comments below this one calling this corny:
Hip Hop artist are inspired everyday by other rappers. J. Cole made a song about how he disappointed his hero. And that makes him corny?! I think its great! This is what hip hop is about people! Just speaking about what’s on your mind. For the Nas fans, Nas made a song dedicated to Rakim off his Street’s Disciple album. No one called that corny! It was even critically acclaimed. And for the dear Lil Wayne fans, remember the end of Mr. Carter with Jay Z! Those lines came from Lucky Me from In My Lifetime, Vol 1. No one called that corny! Fuck he even has Lucky Me tatted on his neck! He even called Jay Z his hero on his Behind The Music. So stop bashing this dude with those hypocritical comments!
Rakim said he ain’t like the song and Nas kept it moving, he didn’t try to impress Rakim after the fact. An important element of that episode that you left out.
I didn’t leave out anything. My post wasn’t directed at what Rakim and Jay said, it was directed at the folks on here clowning Cole for doing something that their favorite artist have done before.
“Nas made a song dedicated to Rakim off his Street’s Disciple album. No one called that corny! It was even critically acclaimed”
^ and you left out the part I stated, Rakim didn’t like it
some of the folks are saying Cole is reaching by doing this again, it’s borderline stalking. Did Nas need to do another song about Rakim? No. You left out this element of that comparison because it doesn’t have Cole in a good light. Btw, I like the new song, should have done it first.
Ugh! You again?! That is the only Nas related song from him! There is no stalking. But hey, that’s why I said ignorant comments.
*note
as Judge Judy would say ‘that s hearsay’. Nas says a lot of shit not necessarily to say that is all true, he has arrogance sometimes. When he said to Noreaga ‘step your bars up’ he trully meant it though, but Nore rhymes were wack at the time.
but this track is ridicously corny crying about a veteran rapper hurting yr feelings
Nore should have snapped Nas’s neck like a pretzel. Nas should step his retirement up.
What retirement?
no disrespect,but Nas should check his own catalogue of wack tracks AND albums before he talks about others
Word Son, starting with ‘You Owe Me’
you owe me> work out
You’re on j coles dick so hard you would try to pull nas down because he said that work out track was wack? He was right, it was wack. no reasn to catch feelings, stan. lol oh, and nas’ worst songs are better then j’s best. You really dont want to go there.
See. You owe me went right over the masses head. The message in that song was hella deep and most of you idiots missed it.
That’s what makes Nas one of the top three. And no Jay ain’t in that list.
J Cole man stop being a pussy, and realize criticism builds up your weaknesses
That very same man you feel you let down, is forever letting down too many of his fans…check his catalogue
Yeah he has some weak songs in his catalogue just like Jay.. but the entirety of his career = legend. At this is not even mentioning the tons of unreleased tracks of his that were better than most of his album stuff..
born sinner = if u like a female topic related album THIS IS FOR YOU
IT AINT NO COLE WORLD THATS 4 SURE
J Cole overrated ass sure gets a lot of inspiration
that let nas down track is FIIRREEEE!!! Cole got a cassic on his hands. Now New York Times is what’s left-COLE WORLD
Honestly. Everything I have heard from cole that he has put on an album has been a let down. His singles are horrible. To me what separates the greats from the also rans are the singles. If you can make a single that is true to you and still have the idiot masses love it then you have a chance to be great.
See Drink from Kendrick. It wasn’t a sellout song. It was just a twist on what he was already doing. Now Nas my dude and most of his radio songs weren’t straight sell out. Even the joint with Genuine had a message to it that probably went right over the masses heads.
These love songs Cole releases for singles needs to stop.
I guess that’s what happens when you are under the tutelage of Jay who makes the most forgettable music ever.
I never heard this slow talk sing along shit from cole on his mix tapes. His big hits off his mix tapes were straight rap. Simba was the shit.
really higher or she loves me not doesnt ring a bell
You need to stop this fascination with Nastrabrokus.
You need to kill yourself.
I’m sorry, but putting another rapper or athlete or celebrity’s name in the title of your song is DICK RIDING and a blaitantly cheap attempt at garnering some attention for the song. I know in this era there are no rules or parameters, and anything you say in opposition to ANYTHING is considered hating, but I don’t give a fuck. That shit is petty and weak. Come up with a better title nigga, Nas is not gonna like you more just ’cause you used his name in a song. Geez…we’ve reached the all time pinnacle of dick licking in Hip-Hop.
Download this J. Cole Song now at
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLMm5mHVp_M
Jayz wants JCOLE to be like him…. A POP RAPPER…. but JCOLE wants to be like NAS… A GREAT LYRICIST
Nas is just mad cause he cant win a grammy
He should call Drake and ask him how it feels.
2Pac, Biggie, and many other music legends never won a Grammy, either. Are they mad as well?
classic album. thank you cole for making a classic!
Forget Nas for a sec, you let hip hop down with this weak new album.. once Kanye drops, nobody will be listening to Born Sinner.
Cole is insecure tho; making a whole track just cuz Nas didn’t like your single. Kinda weak imo.. not even worth speaking on. I bet Jay didn’t like the single either, but thought it could get radio play. C’mon NO ONE likes “Work Out” except for some females..
“That’s what makes Nas one of the top three”
The top three most boring rappers alive.
Just another pointless comment hating on a legend. Tell me, who the fuck do you listen to that is so exciting?
Not boring.
In da, my niggas be chillin’. While I’m out in da streetz makin’ a killin’ wit dis drug dealin’. Music bumpin’, concealin’ a villain in da night. Why poe-leese got tha right to murk my brothaz? Deez words from da street da troof. Nigga be aloof. Put the bullets in da glock, make it rain blue. A flood of blood from a pig’s face. Once I put da glock in yo mouth, tell me: how dat taste?
lmao I really hope youre trolling lol
In da hood, my niggas be chillin’. While I’m out in da streetz makin’ a killin’ wit dis drug dealin’. Music bumpin’, concealin’ a villain in da night. Why poe-leese got tha right to murk my brothaz? Deez words from da street da troof. Nigga be aloof. Put the bullets in da glock, make it rain blue. A flood of blood from a pig’s face. Once I put da glock in yo mouth, tell me: how dat taste?
That Ether, that shit that make Cole burn slow HA
My Nuts Itch