Author: Charles Frank

7 Rappers Who Are Sober

After spending time in rehab, his third album, 2021’s The House is Burning, was recorded completely sober. J. Cole would like to assure you that he’s just like you. This seems to be the overarching message in an exclusive new interview he gave to longtime hip-hop writer Paul Cantor, published in Vulture. Which is a fine thing to do…as long as there is a balance.

  1. He’s been a millionaire since 2010 and still hates spending money, balks at even paying $15 for the Wi-Fi at most overpriced hotels, but this car, and the private jets he sometimes takes now, are things he can afford.
  2. Hart’s been caught cheating, so the last thing he wants is to pose for the photo.
  3. Last month, Yachty continued his hot streak with spacey new song “Tesla,” which led a four-song single pack/EP of the same name.
  4. The Bentley costs $700 a day, and Cole’s in Los Angeles for eight weeks.
  5. His intentions are felt, along with his passion and seriousness, but his execution serves up sophomore-level sentiments.

Dreamville Records

Trying to be more social, more visible, blend his new life with his old one, find balance. He’s pulled back far enough to be comfortable, but increasingly, he’s leaning back in. Not because he wants anything in particular; only because this time, he’s more sure of who he is.

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It doesn’t apologize for Hart, but encourages men to make better choices. In one scene, Hart shops for a baby stroller when he’s accosted by an eager fan, a 40-something mom with her son in tow, who wants a selfie. Hart’s been caught cheating, so the last thing he wants is to pose for the photo. He grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, under the care of his mother, Kay Cole, a letter carrier for the Post Office. Kay struggled with drinking and drugs after Cole’s stepfather, Edward, left in 2003 (K.O.D.’s only guest features come from his alter ego, Kill Edward, inspired by his stepfather). She eventually got clean and sober, but Cole’s still wary of discussing her in interviews.

For every theory Cole expounds, his own logic becomes more and more inflated, contradictive, and sorely mistaken for genuine wisdom. The finger-wagging judgment on “Once an Addict”—one of the only songs where J. Cole takes a break from conceptualizing his friends’ lives and careers to allow insight into his own upbringing and family—finds him admonishing his mother for drinking during her husband’s infidelity. His glaring narcissism seeps through the cracks, an ironic lack of empathy and understanding for the woman who’s working day and night to keep him fed. At least when Cole spits, he means it; his words feel tangible.

Concert tours

The wounds are deep, and he fears her past may negatively affect her now. On October 6, 2023, Drake’s album For All The Dogs was released; on it, J. Cole was featured on the eventual single “First Person Shooter”, which would debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his first song to top the chart. Unlike some of his fellow Odd Future members, Tyler, The Creator made a deliberate decision to not smoke or drink.

J. Cole Talks New Rappers, Drug Abuse and Calls His Critics “Idiots” In New Interview

When Cole repeats the phrase “made it out, it gotta mean something,” it’s as if he’s carrying the weight of his city’s deferred dreams. Much like the athletes whom he seeks to emulate, Cole becomes a vicarious bearer of hope. This is the theme of Cole’s new record, K.O.D. — namely, the pain that makes people escape into drugs, alcohol, money, sex, social media and other vices. Cole’s biggest escape these days is his work, and during the week in late March that I visit him, he is shooting two music videos.

Early life

But J. Cole doesn’t allow for nuance or exceptions because he’s too busy making sure you understood the first half of his latest conspiracy regarding taxes, unspecified corporations, and someone’s funeral. KOD is a conscious album responding to hip-hop’s obsession with prescription drugs and self-medication—and in this respect, it has every right to point some fingers. Yet, Cole is the type of rapper who’s still not comfortable admitting he doesn’t know everything, sometimes drowning in ideology that’s less than imaginative. Hart, who stars in the video, walks over and sits down; Cole is directing and tells him what to do. The song is loosely about sex addiction, and the video sends up Hart’s situation, imagining a day in his life after the cheating news broke.

In the ICM company box at the Staples Center, Dreamville’s extended roster is on hand. Cole and Hamad have courtside seats, but they spend most of the game in the box. It’s that sitting down there, near the other celebrities, doesn’t excite him. He feels at home among his close friends, and opportunities to hang these days are few and far between.

He rapped about drug use on his first few albums, but it was not until after 2004’s Encore that he sought help. His 2009 album, Relapse, was a direct result of a relapse following the death of his best friend, rapper Proof. After becoming sober, Eminem reemerged with Recovery, his incredibly successful seventh album chronicling his journey to sobriety. It was a deeply personal album that separated him from his Slim Shady alter ego.