Rap newcomer J. Cole recently updated fans on the status of his debut Roc Nation album and said he is roughly 75 percent complete with the solo project.
Cole revealed his decision to work with Kanye West's mentor, No I.D..
"If you would have asked me two weeks ago [about the status], I would have told you I was 30 percent, man, [now it's] 70," Cole revealed in an interview. "Like 75, like, this is how many songs, I hit a little streak and now I got some stuff that's impressing me. Like, 'Man, did I just do this song?' I got in with [producer] No I.D. and now, you gotta understand, I've been doing music, myself, my own beats, since I was making my own songs, so it's hard to allow somebody to come in but now the way that we make music, it isn't just 'Oh yeah, I got this beat for you, rap on this beat,' he's in there, I'm in there, there's a guitar player, key player, it feels like you're making an album."
Cole previously remained mum about the project when asked about its status last September.
"I'm working on my album," he revealed in an interview. "Feels like I've been working on it for years, but now I'm officially in the studio working on it, like hashing sh*t out. I'll just say, [I'm featured]. If I mention anyone, people are gonna be expecting some sh*t, so I'll just say, me. There will definitely be another project that will drop before my album. I tried to be stubborn and say I already gave them 22 songs, but nah, that's just the way game works. You gotta stay relevant some way...I say [it'll drop] spring 2010. I think the label is thinking early summer, but I'm thinking spring."
The rapper previously discussed being on Jay-Z's Roc Nation.
"'Cause Jay-Z's shadow is so big, it would be hard for anybody to come out of that," Cole said about feeling pressured to deliver success. "But I'm the type of person where, A., I look at things as challenges, I like challenges and, B., I truly believe that you determine your own destiny. An opportunity is an opportunity, and one of that magnitude would be dumb to pass up, especially when I truly believe that I make my path and I set my course, and where I land, at the end of the day, or the end of my career, [is] because of me. Of course, you get help along the way, and cosigns and management and opportunities and things like that but overall, the ball is in your court basically. In terms of pressure, I used to say I didn't feel any pressure 'cause I really wasn't thinkin' about it, but now that I'm thinkin' about it, it's like a good pressure. I feel the type of pressure that a strong-minded first pick in a draft would feel. 'Cause I feel like a first pick in a draft could either be like, 'D*mn, I'm the first pick! I don't wanna mess up! I don't wanna f*ck this up, they invested a lot of money in me!' or he could be like, 'Yeah, I'm the first round pick, 'cause I worked so hard to be the first round pick. Now I'm gonna show you why I'm the first pick.'"
Despite his closeness with Hov, Cole recently said he would not get involved in the rap mogul's personal issues with ex-Roc-A-Fella associate Beanie Sigel if called upon.
"I don't know anything about that situation, to really have an opinion, so my opinion really don't [mean] nothing," Cole explained in an interview. "But I will say, like, from a fan standpoint, it's just a fan answer, you can really tell some pain in the words he's saying. I don't know any facts or details of what happened, like, that was before my era. It was a whole different time, a whole different culture I think of how they ran they business back then but you could just tell, it's coming from somewhere because you can hear the pain in his voice. You can hear real emotion. But I don't know details and specifics though. I don't know Beanie Sigel, I never met him. [Young] Chris is cool, Young Chris is real cool. I always run in to him, that's my man right there but I don't know Beanie Sigel...[Jay and Beans] are really street n*ggas, they come from a culture where it's like that's kinda how it is. I don't even think Jay's in that place [to beef] no more. He's far from that place and I'm d*mn sure not in that place, I went to school. Like, I understand it -- but that's not even my place [to make a diss record with Jay.]"
No further details on J. Cole's debut album have been revealed as of now.
Check out a recent J. Cole interview below:
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