On June 15, 2009, J. Cole released his second official mixtape called The Warm Up. 10 years later, J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim âIBâ Hamad go down memory lane and share some reflections on the project.
10 years ago The Warm Up dropped. Thanks 2 all that have listened 2 the foundation of my whole journey.
My catalogue on streaming services donât even look right until this & FNL are up. workin on it.
Decade later and Iâm still dreamin and tryna get better. God Bless
Ib revealed how the cover for The Warm Up was shot. Photographed by Chad Griffith and designed by Alex Haldi, Ib says they were supposed to shoot the cover inside of Holy Cross High Schoolâs gym in Queens, but his coach never showed up. So they had to improvise.
Â
On the anniversary, Ib was also surprised at how many fans thought the snow on the cover was fake.
The Warm Up is viewed as classic Cole material, featuring songs such as âGrown Simba,â âLights Please,â and âI Get Up.â It was instrumental in him signing with JAY-Zâs Roc Nation.
For more stories by Ib and The Warm Up, read his interview with DJBooth here.
This year, Dreamville has drawn excitement for their upcoming label compilation Revenge of the Dreamers III. Two offerings were released this week â âDown Badâ and âGot Meâ â with more songs to drop soon.
