Well, it looks like Kendrick Lamar can thank J. Cole for playing a major role in getting his career off the ground.
In a recent interview with media personality Nardwuar, the Dreamville Records owner was asked a question he wasn’t prepared for. Nardwuar caught J. Cole off guard when he asked if he was responsible for putting Kendrick on to Dr. Dre. Cole was initially speechless and gave Nardwuar a confused look. However, he did finally answer the question.
“Who told you that? Who gave you that piece of information? … 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, Kendrick,” Cole says.
J. Cole then goes on to say how he first brought Kendrick up to Dre while working on the Detox album. But to Cole’s surprise, someone on Dre’s team was already familiar with Kendrick. Dre eventually signed Kendrick to Aftermath in 2013.
“Shoutout to Dre. He made the right decision,” Cole said.
Now even though J. Cole was confident in Dre signing Kendrick, Cole says he wanted to sign him to his Dreamville label. But seeing as the label wasn’t smooth running like it is now, Cole passed on the opportunity.
“100 percent. I don’t know what I would’ve signed him to, you know what I mean? 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,” the Dreamville owner adds.
Later in the interview, Nardwuar gifted Cole with a plethora of gifts, including a Dilla Turntable released by J. Dilla’s estate, Breaks & Beats Spaceman doll, and a number of vinyl records.
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