Drake Wishes His 'Brother' J. Cole a Happy Birthday: 'Thank You for the Years of Inspiration'

Drake got sentimental on Instagram in time for Cole's 39th birthday.

DrakeVEVO (YouTube)

Drake and J. Cole are as thick as thieves. If their back-to-back collaborations and upcoming joint tour weren't proof enough, Drake also gave Cole a sentimental birthday shout-out on Sunday.

"More life my brother," The Boy wrote in his Instagram Stories over a black and white image of Cole. "Thank you for the years of inspiration."

2023 was a brotherly year for Drake and the Dreamville Records co-founder, as both headlined the third installment of Dreamville Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina. Cole returned the favor last July when he made a surprise pop-up during the Montreal stop of the It's All A Blur Tour.

THEY ACT LIKE TWO LEGENDS CANNOT COEXIST #DreamvilleFest

(📸 @frankievergara_) pic.twitter.com/h9BZ3J2MOY

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) April 3, 2023
Twitter: @ComplexMusic

Drake brought out J. Cole during his show tonight in Montreal 🫡pic.twitter.com/u7L3HRUSTC

— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) July 15, 2023
Twitter: @ComplexMusic

Drake and Cole also teamed up on "Evil Ways" and "First Person Shooter" from For All the Dogs, with the latter single marking Cole's first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Although "First Person Shooter" marked Drake tying with Michael Jackson for most chart-toppers by a male artist, Cole explained on Lil Yachty's A Safe Place podcast that the No. 1 was virtually given to him because the song included Drake. The collaboration was also in competition with the Yeat-assisted For All the Dogs track, "IDGAF."

"I’d almost feel better not having my first No. 1 be off a Drake alley-oop, you know what I mean? Like, I love Drake and I love that I’m a part of that moment with him with Michael Jackson," Cole said on the podcast. "But it’s like, bruh, I’m grateful I’m a part of it. But if the other song would have went No. 1, n****, I’m still grateful I’m a part of it. I wasn’t at home like, 'Come on, y’all! Pick up the streams, man! We gotta beat this motherfucker Yeat! Come on now!' I wasn’t doing that."

The It's All a Blur Tour, Big as the What? will kick off on Feb. 2 in Tampa, Florida.

Latest in Music