College graduated/NC native J. Cole signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label over 2 1/2 years ago and been very consistent since. Before releasing his first solo album, entitled Cole World: The Sideline Story, which debuted at #1, selling over 218,000 copies in the first week, Cole released a few mixtapes and EP’s including The Come Up, The Warm Up, Friday Night Lights, and Any Given Sunday EP. A few weeks ago, he was also nominated for his first Grammy Award for “Best New Artist.”

MTV caught up Jay-Z and he expressed how happy he was for his protegé and feels that J. Cole already won “best new artist.”

“I think it’s great for him, because I’m sure it’s a dream of his. We grew up seeing Michael Jackson, and I’m sure he grew up seeing whatever moment stuck in his mind, so I know it’s great for him to do that,” said Jay-Z.

Jay-Z continued and said, ”I think he’s already won Best New Artist, to me. His journey is what I’m really excited about.”

“The person he is today is not who he was when he first walked in,” Jay said of Cole. “He got a chance to really go out, see what worked, see what people connect to, figure out how he was gonna tell his story.”

Source: MTV

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