J. Cole was one of the first artists who recognized Kendrick Lamar’s talent.
A couple of years back, Nardwuar had an interaction with J. Cole at the Day N Vegas festival in LA, and during the short chat, the Dreamville boss promised the Vancouver veteran that he will give him an interview in 2020 or 2021. The two finally had a sit down for an interview, which took place on the “2014 Forest Hills Drive” seventh anniversary earlier this month.
For those unfamiliar with Nardwuar’s interviewing approach, the interviewer has CIA-level talents at digging deep into a person’s background and unearthing events that the subject either forgot about or is shocked Nardwuar was able to unearth. Cole’s mind was blown when Nard mentioned that the studio they were in was where Cole recorded a track for 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which was released seven years ago on the date of the interview. “That’s crazy,” Cole said, “and I’m just realising it now.” “This is on some level of synchronicity, God-like. That’s insane.”
As always, Nardwuar brings some gifts for Cole, which includes Breaks & Beats Spaceman doll, some vinyl records, a Dilla Turntable and more. During the conversation, an unknown story was revealed when J. Cole was asked if he advised Dr. Dre to sign the rising rapper Kendrick Lamar.
“Who told you that? Who gave you that piece of information?” Cole responded. “ The answer is, yes. I did. I’m not gonna say I was the first to tell him… I was like, ‘Yo, you gotta sign this kid from Compton.” At the time, Dr. Dre was working on his “Detox” album, and one of his team member was already familiar with K. Dot.
Here’s a clip of a *new* interview I did with J. Cole ! Check out the *FULL* version at https://t.co/XNXGDLEbPO Doot doo ! @JColeNC @Dreamville pic.twitter.com/pBoNyAmRgE
— Nardwuar (@nardwuar) December 25, 2021
“Shoutout to Dr. Dre,” Cole said. “He made the right decision.” Then Cole was asked if he wanted to sign Kendrick Lamar too. “100 percent. I don’t know what I would’ve signed him to, you know what I mean?” he revealed. “We didn’t have our business intact, but that’s how much I rocked with him at that time. I met him, and instantly was highly impressed. That would’ve been the first artist in my mind [to sign], but come to find out, he had bigger sh*t going on.”
He also brings up Cole’s initial rap name, The Therapist, and makes him explain the meaning behind it. Nardwuar delves into Cole’s past for over an hour, learning never-before-heard details about the platinum-selling rapper’s childhood, adolescence, and musical tastes.
Watch the full interview below.
[VIA]
