3. - Jermaine Lamarr Cole (known as J Cole) was born January 28th,
1985 in Germany
- He moved to Fayetville, North Carolina at a young age, and writes
fondly of his hometown
- He is a rap artist/songwriter/record producer that was signed to
Jay-Z’s label, Roc Nation in 2009
- He released his first mixtape “The Come Up” in 2007 and has been
active ever since
Who is He?
4. Discography
• The Come Up (2007)
– Mixtape
• The Warm Up (2009)
– Mixtape
• Friday Night Lights (2010)
– Mixtape
• Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011)
– First studio release (Roc Nation)
• Born Sinner (2013)
– Second studio release (Dreamville Records, Roc
Nation)
• Revenge of the Dreamers (2014)
– Collaborative effort by artists of Dreamville Records
5. Awards and
Significant
Nominations
In the past four years, J Cole
has been nominated for 36
awards, including:
Best New Artist, Best
Rap/Hip-Hop Album, MVP of
the Year and many others
At this point, he has won BET
Hip-Hop Award’s Best
Mixtape for “Cole World”
(2011) and Impact Track for
“Crooked Smile” (2013)
6. Social Media Presence
• Compared to many of today’s
celebrities, J Cole’s social
media presence (@JColeNC) is
scarce
• For example: So far in 2013, J
Cole has tweeted 7 times
• But, despite his limited time
social media, his fans more
than make up for it...
• @TeamDreamville,
@TrueColeFam, @Dreamville,
@DreamvilleFans,
@TeamJColeNC are just a few of
the fan accounts, that
represent nearly 100 000 fans
8. Education
Unlike many rap artists, J Cole
prioritized his education
- J Cole graduated high school
and attended St. John’s
University in New York City on a
scholarship
- He majored Communications
and minored in Business
- In 2007, J Cole graduated with
magna cum laude (“with great
honour”)
- From there, he continued to
pursue his musical career
9. Cole values education and uses his status to encourage others to do the same (see
tweets below), and also challenges his fans to think critically when it comes to
evaluating what they see in media....
• -
10. • As a fan of J Cole, I feel pride in seeing how
strong and caring the “Dreamvillains” are
• The hash-tag #ColeFam on Twitter is constantly
in use, many of the users knowing and following
one another and are genuinely interested in
areas of their lives beyond J Cole
• Despite his tweets being few, J Cole makes sure
his love for his fans is known
Online
Communities
11. • Born Sinner (2013) was announced to be released June 25, but
at the announcement of the release date Kanye West’s album,
Yeezus, Cole moved his release date up one week, resulting in
both rap albums being released on the same day. After the end of
the first week, well known Kanye was ahead in sales... But, in the
following weeks and months (when the world realized how
significant this album was), J Cole pulled forward in sales and
remains ahead
• The announcement and promotion of Born Sinner (2013) was
done mostly through social media
• J Cole was also named one of Forbes Magazine’s “30 under 30” in
January 2014!
– Article here:
www.forbes.com/special-report/2014/30-under-30/music.html
Success so Far
13. What’s Next?
• On his birthday, J Cole announced a
partnership between Dreamville Records
and Interscope Records, who represents
artists such as Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons,
Eminem, Ellie Goulding
• Needless to say, this is a big move in the
right direction for a small record label...
14. On the night of his birthday, J Cole performed in Madison Square Gardens as a part of
his What Dreams May Come tour. At that show, rap legend and owner of Roc Nation,
came out and surprised J Cole with his very own Roc Nation diamond chain
On the same night, J Cole released Revenge of the Dreams mixtape and on each seat
of the audience, J Cole left a piece of paper explaining the partnership of Dreamville
Records and Interscope Records, as well as a phone number...
Cole World
15. ... And then this happened
The number on the hand out (1 888 88 DREAM) was an active line directly
to the Dreamville team... A lucky young woman was able to get through and
spoke with Bas, who passed on a message to J Cole... The result was a
message from J Cole, promising to be at the young woman’s graduation if
she’s accepted into university...
16. Worldwide...
After the release of Born Sinner, Cole did a world tour (including US, Canada and
Europe) titled “What Dreams May Come” with another Dreamville artist, Bas
Though the tour only finished February 1st, Cole and his team are already onto
the next big thing.... On February 15th, J Cole and Kendrick Lamar began an
Australian tour with Eminem(!)
As a fan, it’s so exciting to see where they’re going from here. You can guarantee
that it’s going to be big!
17. 1. Find your audience
I. He’s found ‘em! From Day 1 fans, to new fans as a result
of Born Sinner (2013), Cole’s got quite a few. He
recently passed 4 million Twitter followers!
2. Post meaningful, shareable content
I. Cole tweets about things close to his heart; he shares
music, thanks fans for their loyalty, promotes education
and shares important public events
II. He’s not posting every time he has a thought, but rather
posts when he feels an issue needs the attention of his
fans
3. Engage your current fans
I. Because of the rarity of his social media presence, J
Cole’s fans pay attention when he is active
4. Continue the social push in real life
I. J Cole does interviews and concerts, but rarely
promotes himself by telling fans to check out his Twitter
or Facebook page
5. Post consistently
I. Cole’s Dreamvillians (close friends, managers, etc.) post
consistently, but not on behalf of J Cole, but rather to let
fans know what’s happening during the in-between of
Cole’s updates.
II. E.g. Pictures from backstage, videos of rehearsals,
private shows and how to get access and so on
Eckerling’s
Five Social
Media Tips
for Musicians
