J. Cole Page 2

J. Cole is set to feature on Joey Bada$$ album.

The 22-year-old musician - whose real name is Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott - is believed to have secured the 32-year-old artist, Schoolboy Q and Styles P on his upcoming LP titled 'All-Amerikkan Bada$$', and the star has teased the upcoming music medley will be his ''most important hip-hop album''.

Speaking about the forthcoming project on Twitter, he said: ''This is the most important hip-hop album in a long time. Blood sweat & tears into this.

Continue reading: J. Cole Features On Joey Bada$$ Album

10) Cracker Jon & 2Late - You Can Take The Cracker Out Of Croydon:
Cracker Jon and 2Late have been tearing down festivals and shows for a good few years, and 2014 finally saw the release of their debut album, released on the UK hip hop powerhouse that is High Focus Records. Cracker's unique and slightly abstract flow, along with his intricate writing combine with 2Late's funky, Redman esque beats, and the styles compliment each other terrifically. Jon tackles a variety of concepts on this album; in fact he tackles a variety within each song, and it's this approach that definitely makes this album stand out. He's one of the most unique MC's from the UK, and the partnership with 2Late is an exciting and promising one, and 'You Can Take The Cracker Out Of Croydon' is a really solid debut project, with a cohesive sound executed to its full potential. 

9) Kev Brown & Hassaan Mackey - That Grit: 
Rochester MC Hassaan Mackey and Maryland producer Kev Brown collaborate to bring us this absolutely sick album, entitled 'That Grit'. Released in November, this album has constantly been in rotation for me since then; Hassaan's intelligent writing and great presence complement Kev Brown's slick, intricate sampling and consistently dope drums. The Low Budget producer has worked with an array of underground talents, including LMNO, Has-Lo and Raw Poetic, and his production is always incredibly solid. This one might have slipped under the radar, but it's definitely one of my standouts from the year. 

8). J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive:
J. Cole has been around the block. The hype and buzz around him has been there since he first appeared on a mainstream level, and his third album, entitled '2014 Forest Hills Drive' finds him at his most honest, personal, raw and effective. He's responsible for much of the albums production, and it really feels like this was the project he wanted to make. The reception to the album has been excellent; with first week sales of 361,120 in the States, making it the highest selling hip hop album of the year. It's a refreshing body of work in today's climate, with much of commercial rap recycling the same materialistic concepts and subjects we've heard thousands of times before, and it's encouraging that people are engaging with Cole here. 

Continue reading: Sam Bennett's Top 10 Hip Hop Albums Of 2014

SunFest is back in Florida once again with another impressively diverse line-up and non-stop activity for five days. This year, the bill is headlined by Kid Rock, Ellie Goulding and Robin Thicke.

Probably the best sun-soaked family vacation you could ask for at such great value, SunFest arrives at West Palm Beach today (April 30th 2014) with a line-up that truly has something for everyone - if you'd pardon the cliché. Like any decent festival, filling in the spaces between bands is everything from the BB&T Juried Fine Art & Craft show to the Floating Oasis barge parties, not to mention the much anticipated fireworks display on Sunday. Having hosted its first event in 1982, it's no wonder it has remained such a family favourite, attracting over 165,000 revellers each year.

Continue reading: Ellie Goulding, Goo Goo Dolls And Pretty Lights Are Among The Acts To Look Forward To At Florida's SunFest 2014

Outkast returned home to Georgia for their stint at CounterPoint Festival 2014 - and fans were a lot more pleased this time round than they were at their comeback gig at Coachella.

Nothing was going to spoil the mood at this year's CounterPoint Festival. With a line-up headlined by one of the world's favourite veteran hip hop duos and also featuring Pretty Lights, Foster The People and STS9, not even the ferocious storm that swept the venue over the weekend engulfing festival goers in streams of mud was going to ruin the experience for anyone. 

Continue reading: Outkast Were Back In Georgia For CounterPoint Festival 2014, With A Few Special Guests

Prepare for strangeness, as the iHeart Radio music festival is once again upon us and it comes with an eclectic lineup once again this year. Said lineup has now been announced, and while there won’t be another meltdown from Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong, since the band won’t be performing this year, there are still plenty of names on their for fans of various genres to get excited about.

Productive as ever, Justin Timberlake will make an appearance.

For anyone who’s following current musical trends, Justin Timberlake and Ke$ha both feature in the lineup, as do J Cole, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, AWOLNATION and even 30 Seconds to Mars – pretty much everyone, who has an album to promote, it would seem. The festivities will once again be based in Las Vegas, taking place over Sept 20 and 21. There are some changes to the festival structure as well, with the addition of the iHeart village, featuring such talent as Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne. The village is actually a brand new festival stage – according to the official website “ On Saturday, September 21, from 10a - 4p, the iHeartRadio Music Festival Village takes over a brand-new outdoor venue, The Lot, right on the Strip. ” The full lineup (for both the main stage and the village) is listed below, curtesy of the official iHeart website.

Continue reading: From Miley Cyrus To Muse - There's Something For Everyone In IHeartRadio Festival's Lineup

J. Cole's sophomore album Born Sinner has shot to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart after its release on 18th June 2013. According to Billboard, a case such as J. Cole's - where an album climbs to the top as opposed to debuting at No.1 - is rare due to most titles enjoying their best sales weeks during their debut frame and struggle to maintain momentum to compete with newer albums. Ever since Nielsen SoundScan started analysing the chart in 1991, there have been 583 albums to reached No. 1. Of those, only 13% (76 records) did not debut at No. 1 - J Cole's Born Sinner is now one of the few to do so. However, this is the sixth smallest selling week ever in SoundScan's records with just 58,000 sold to claim the top spot.

J. Cole Enjoying His Second Taste Of No.1.

The 28 year-old North Carolinan tweeted his excitement and thanked his fans for helping him get to No.1: "3 weeks later. #1 Album in the country. Born Sinner. Thank You." According to USA Today, after its release Born Sinner had to contend with spending its first fortnight at No. 2, first behind Kanye West's Yeezus and then Wale's The Gifted then overtook the other two rappers after selling 58,000 in its third week. It has now sold 439,000 copies surpassing Yeezus' 431,000. The Gifted was No. 2 this week with 50,000 followed by Yeezus with 39,000,

Continue reading: J. Cole's 'Born Sinner' No.1 On Billboard 200 Chart

This week introduced an unexpected change in the Billboard chart – rapper Wale came out of the blue to claim the top spot in the chart with his brand new album, The Gifted. Wale snatched the number one from Kanye’s Yeezus, which this week had an 80% drop in sales, taking the record down to number 3. Yeezus only managed to sell 65,000 copies this week, which is respectable, but still nothing compared to last week’s 324,000.

Wale emerged seemingly out of nowhere to dominate the Billboard chart this week.

This debut marks Wale’s first crack at the Billboard number one. The closest the rapper had come previously was his previous release, 2011’s Ambition, which entered the chart at number two and never went any higher than that. The album sold a respectable 164,000 that week, however had to take the second spot after Justin Bieber’s Under the Mistletoe debuted with over 210,000 copies sold.

Continue reading: "The Gifted" Wale Snags The Billboard Top Spot From Kanye's "Yeezus"

Washington D.C rapper Wale has topped the Billboard No.1 after his third album 'The Gifted' sold a very solid 158,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Wale's follow-up 2011's 'Ambition' - which saw him cement a place in the mainstream - ousted Kanye West from the top-spot, whose album Yeezus suffered a dreadful drop in sales.

Clearly, Wale was boosted by the success of lead single 'Bad' which has been a mainstay on rap radio since the beginning of the year. It peaked at No.3 on Billboard's rap chart and spawned a Rihanna remix. 

Last week, Kanye West had marginally seen off J Cole's new album Born Sinner for the top spot, though the tide has turned dramatically. West suffered an 80% drop in sales - the fourth biggest second week drop since SoundScan began keeping records in 1991 - to allow J Cole to snatch the No.2 spot with an additional 84,000 sales. Kanye's slump echoes Madonna's huge sales drop with MDNA, which sank a massive 87% in week two.

Continue reading: Rapper Wale Tops Billboard No.1 As Kanye West Suffers 80% Sales Drop

With all the buzz surrounding Kanye West’s Yeezus lately, it comes as no surprise that the release topped the Billboard 200 album chart this week. Everyone wants to know if Yeezus is as godlike as its creator claims and it’s selling out like hotcakes – whatever those are. In any case, Yeezus has shifted around 327, 000 copies in its first week – not exactly topping Kanye’s 2007 success with Graduation, but it was enough for the album to debut at No. 1 on Billboard, which is still pretty respectable. Those numbers also place Yeezus as the third bestselling album of the year – behind Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience (968,000) and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories (339, 000).

These days, Yeezy has a lot to celebrate.

Congratulations, Kanye! Despite what some of the songs claim, it isn’t exactly a godlike performance, but still – a solid week for West, who should probably be cut some slack, He is a newly appointed dad, after all. Following closely in the chart is – surprise, surprise – J Cole’s Born Sinner with 297, 000. Not a bad debut for what can be considered the rapper’s breakout album. Though for those, who were pitting Yeezus against Born Sinner, it’s pretty obvious who is winning at this point.

Continue reading: In The Billboard Chart, Kanye West's "Yeezus" Dominates Again

Summer album releases a-plenty, Jay Z has joined the lineup in a big way with his upcoming “Magna Carter Holy Grail” album. Apparently rappers are all about the religious puns right now (Kanye West’s “Yeezus” and J Cole’s “Born Sinner” seem to fall into the same category). But Jay Z managed to inject some originality into the whole affair, by revealing the tracklist on “Magna Carter”... via scavenger hunt. The rapper, born Shaun Carter, held the scavenger hunt in Brooklyn this weekend and the rules were simple. His publicist Jana Fleishman posted on Twitter photos of the locations, where fans could find the black binders containing the titles on the album. Jay Z made the album announcement last week in an online Samsung ad. "It's this duality of how do you navigate your way through this whole this whole thing... through success, through failures, through all of this, and remain yourself," Jay Z said in the announcement. "Magna Carter" is due for release on July 4th and will feature 13 tracks and 2 bonus tracks, including Jay Z's recent release, "Open Letter".

"Magna Carta Holy Grail" Tracklist:

1. Picasso Baby

Continue reading: Scavenger Hunt Leads Fans To Tracklist For Jay Z's Upcoming "Magna Carter" Album

There is a religious undercurrent in hip-hop at the moment and with Kanye West's Yeezus being routinely praised by critics since it's release earlier this week (June 18) amidst a series of distractions in the rapper's life, there could be another stumbling block in the launch path of Kanye's new album in the shape of J Cole's sophomore album; Born Sinner.

Like Kanye's sixth album, Born Sinner is being released to a strong critical reception, with some critics even going on to claim it is (gasp) better that Yeezus. Whilst Kanye's album is more bombastic and industrial sounding, Born Sinner is overall a much darker and personal album and rather than than miss the mark Cole manages to produce a mature and rewarding follow-up to his Roc Nation debut Cole World: The Sideline Story.

Watch the video for 'Power Trip' (Explicit)