J. Cole, one of the earliest Roc Nation signees, credits Jay-Z for having restraint with shaping the career he has today.
During a break on The Fall-Off World Tour, the rapper was a guest on No Bars Off podcast, where he expressed gratitude that Jay-Z never pushed him toward a commercial breakthrough before he was prepared. After a mixtape run from the late aughts to 2010, Cole released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011.
Cole said a moment during his ongoing The Fall-Off tour prompted him to reflect on his very first meeting with Jay-Z, where he played the song "Wet Dreamz" for the Roc Nation founder.
"I played 'Wet Dreamz' for Jay-Z [at] my first meeting for him," Cole said. "In my mind, I'm like, 'He had to have known what this was, right?' I didn't put it out until five years later... Thank God he didn't go, 'Oh my God, let's take that to radio right now... He's ready now.'“
“Whether he thought that song was ready or not, he probably knew, 'He needs some more development.' Thank God he thought that,” the two-time Grammy winner continued.
The song, released as a single in 2015 and featured on Cole’s third album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, has since been certified 9x Platinum by the RIAA.
Cole went on to share how much he’s gained perspective on not blowing up before he was equipped to handle the pressures of fame.
"Even when I signed to him at 24, if I'd have blew at 24, even with the material I had, I couldn't have came back from that," he said. "I could've dropped a real classic at 24, 25, with the stockpile of songs I had... I had a pure classic on my hands at 24, 25.”
“If I would've blew off of that, and dropped that, I genuinely feel like I would've had nothing to rap about. I would've went and lived a whole crazy life. I wouldn't be married, wouldn't have kids. And then, I would've just been one of them n***as where they like, 'What happened to him?'"
