Here's the Story Behind J. Cole's 'The Warm Up' Cover on Its 10th Anniversary
J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim "IB" Hamad reflect on 'The Warm Up' and its iconic cover.
Image via Getty/Streeter Lecka
On June 15, 2009, J. Cole released his second official mixtape called The Warm Up. 10 years later, J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim āIBā 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 donāt even look right until this & FNL are up. workin on it.
Decade later and Iām 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 Schoolās gym in Queens, but his coach never showed up. So they had to improvise.
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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 āGrown Simba,ā āLights Please,ā and āI Get Up.ā It was instrumental in him signing with JAY-Zās 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 ā āDown Badā and āGot Meā ā with more songs to drop soon.
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