What ‘False Prophets’ Reveals About J. Cole & Kanye’s Relationship

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J. Cole has complicated relationships with his idols. He was dismissed after traveling to Roc The Mic Studio and waiting three hours to give Jay Z a beat CD. Years later, he signed a deal with Jay. When his new boss demanded a single for radio, Cole released the poppy “Work Out”—only to get a call telling him that another idol, Nas, was disappointed with the song. Cole chronicled the experience on his 2013 album Born Sinner, which he pushed up the release date for in order to compete with another rapper he looked up to: Kanye West. He went head-to-head with West’s divisive Yeezus because, in his words, “I worked too hard to come a week later after Kanye West drops an amazing album…. Nah, I’m going to see him on that date.”

While he ultimately didn’t outperform Kanye’s album, Cole came very, very close: Born Sinner debuted at 297,000 units sold, just 30,000 behind Yeezus. The feat proved that Cole had arrived, and was on the same playing field as the artist he looked up to. But the achievement perhaps didn’t mean as much to Cole as he expected it to. “I only get brief moments to appreciate things,” he told Noisey. “I might get a two minute thought of like, ‘Wow, you really did sell more than Kanye….” [At the time he had moved more units, according to Billboard.] “Then I’m back to focusing on what’s next.”

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