
The very first topic I want to establish is that Jermaine Lamarr Cole is the best rapper in the game today for many reasons. He is one of the only rappers to go platinum without any features on all four of his studio albums. This list includes “Cole World: The Sideline Story,” “Born Sinner,” “2014 Forest Hills Drive” and “4 Your Eyez Only.”
J Cole transcends rappers in every field including relatability, originality, personality, and most importantly his purpose. He defies the stereotype of average rappers by being an intelligent, thoughtful, and caring person. Cole tells his fans his story in different ways and from different perspectives. This is what makes him so original.
He is a lyrical genius which forces some people to distance themselves from his music. Our generation revolves around money, clothes, sneakers, and girls. Cole uses his lyrics to illustrate great stories, he is one of the only few rappers who actually tries to use his lyrics to his advantage. He actually tries to use his words to spark a change in his fans, Cole has definitely had a positive impact on people’s lives including mine.
Cole’s personality is humble but very motivated at the same time. He has built a very reputable brand by bringing together talented people under the family of Dreamville. Cole is the type of man that is motivated to help other people and leave a mark on the world. He cares for the black community deeply that he even protested with regular people. What other rappers would do something as caring as that?
His relatability is probably his best attribute and it’s also very important when choosing who to listen to.You can relate to his hunger, his drive, his pain, and his struggle. Nothing was just given to him, he had to earn everything he has which is something everyone can relate too. They say J Cole once stood outside a studio for three hours just to give Jay-Z a track. He worked for everything he’s achieved now, this part of him is what resonates with me the most. He’s a great example of someone who had a dream and went after it relentlessly.
His distinctiveness or originality is another trait that sets him apart from all the rest. He has now released three different albums without any features while producing all of his songs. He’s the only rapper that is able to complete a feat like this one. He doesn’t switch up his flow just to be mainstream which makes him distinct from other greedy artists who are willing to give up their originality to please the public.
I would also like to discuss his purpose in the rap game today. Cole plays a large role that people don’t even appreciate. J Cole and Kendrick Lamar are the only two modern artists that still use their lyrics cleverly without relying on production or beats. They still care about the overall meaning and lesson behind their songs. His role is to bring clarity into the game and suppress the overwhelming ignorance clouding the rap society. Cole is a rapper that you can look up to as a role model in your life and he definitely is a role model to me.
J Cole, in my opinion, is without a doubt the greatest of all time for these reasons. No one’s music has touched my soul like his music. Cole has definitely sparked a change inside of me and is a big part of the reason I am the person I am today.
My cousin actually grew up with Bas, a well known artist from Dreamville and because of their relationship he has been involved in a lot of their activities. This led to my cousin creating one of J Cole’s first music videos and blessing me with the opportunity to meet J cole after one of his amazing performances. It felt surreal to meet the man that had such an enormous impact on my life but the one thing that stood out about him was the fact that he didn’t desire praise. He told his security to tell people to treat him as he was a regular human like you and I. His humbleness has no boundaries and that may be the biggest reason why he’s the greatest rapper of our era.

