Milestones: The Warm Up by J. Cole
J. Cole’s breakout mixtape proves he was no slouch on the microphone.
Jermaine Lamarr Cole was born on a U.S. Army base in Frankfurt, Germany, and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. From an early age, Cole was drawn to music and quickly developed a love for hip-hop. He soaked up the sounds of genre heavyweights like Tupac, Nas, and JAY-Z, studying their lyrics and flow. As a teenager, Cole began writing his rhymes and producing his beats on a beat machine his mother bought him. He had dreams of making it big as a rapper.
After graduating high school, Cole left Fayetteville to attend St. John’s University in New York City on an academic scholarship. Being in the birthplace of hip-hop fueled Cole’s musical ambitions. He adopted the stage name “J. Cole” and focused on sharpening his lyrical abilities. In 2007, as a college sophomore, he released his first mixtape, The Come Up, online for free. The project showcased Cole’s clever wordplay and ear for soulful, sample-based production. It generated some buzz on hip-hop blogs and message boards, providing the ambitious young MC with his first taste of recognition.
Over the next two years, Cole juggled his college coursework with pursuing a rap career. He continued honing his craft, as an MC and producer and built up a fanbase through mixtape releases and energetic live performances at clubs and colleges. In 2009, fresh out of college, Cole released a follow-up mixtape titled The Warm Up on June 15th. He viewed it as an opportunity to take his music to the next level and prove he deserved a spot in the industry. “I’ve always been a preacher for the past few years that rap is turning a corner,” Cole recalled on Complex. “If I would have gotten signed five years ago, I would not be the rapper I am today. So I’m glad it happened at this time, it couldn’t happen at a better time.”
Cole handled much of the production on The Warm Up himself, crafting a sound that mixed classic boom-bap drums with soulful samples and live instrumentation. Lyrically, he delved into his journey and experiences coming of age as a young black man with big ambitions. Songs touched on everything from his strained relationship with ignorant women (“Lights Please”) to his determination to succeed despite the odds stacked against him (“Dead Presidents II”). Cole’s rhymes have a raw, hungry quality as he strives to paint a vivid and honest portrait of his life and mindset.
The Warm Up opens with the song “Welcome,” a short intro track that finds Cole reflecting on his humble beginnings over a jazzy instrumental. “Counting days, still waiting on that shit I prayed for/Am I ungrateful? Want it all so quick,” he declares. The mixtape then launches into “Grown Simba,” with Cole asserting his dominance and declaring himself the future of the rap game: “I left the city for a minute, but it’s still on my back/Told my niggas ‘Ay, I’m finna put the Ville on the map/I’ll be back, and I’m coming with a deal and a plaque!’/‘Cause I’m ill bitch, they couldn’t make a pill for the rap.”
On the introspective “Lights Please,” Cole recounts his seduction of a girl and digs deeper to examine male-female relationships. He raps about sex as a way to dull inner pain and the need for genuine love over just physical connection. The song is elevated by its dreamy, piano-driven beat and sung hook courtesy of Cole himself. “I’m not a conscious rapper, all those things we talk about, the struggle, the pain, the outlook to the future, keep your head up,” Cole said. “I try to put all those positive things into a regular human character, which is myself, so you see that I am not perfect at all, ‘cause he’s talking about bitches, and he’s talking about his ambitions for money, his flaws, but he’s also telling you to keep your head up.”
Another standout is “Dead Presidents II,” a freestyle over the classic JAY-Z and Ski beat. Over a melancholy piano loop, Cole exhibits dizzying wordplay and clever punchlines: “These niggas is playing Russian Roulette/With a full clip, foolish, my crew is foolless/No, we don’t dance, all we do is stay two steps ahead.” He also addresses the pressure of being an up-and-coming artist: “They calling you the savior, so much pressure but you deal with it/The weight of the world on your shoulders, but you still lift it.” It’s a stunning lyrical display that captures Cole’s drive and potential.
Throughout the tape, Cole demonstrates his freestyle abilities on multiple occasions. On tracks like “Knock Knock” and “The Badness,” he goes off the dome with witty one-liners and complex rhyme schemes. These moments offer a glimpse into Cole’s improvisational skills and knack for imaginative wordplay. The freestyles add rawness and spontaneity to contrast the more polished album cuts. They reinforce The Warm Up’s mixtape feel.
The most exciting moment of The Warm Up rarely happened. In June 2009, Cole prepared to release the mixtape and headline a show at New York’s S.O.B.’s nightclub. Unbeknownst to him, a Roc Nation A&R named Mark Pitts was in attendance that night. Pitts was blown away by Cole’s performance, especially a specific song called “Lights Please.” After the show, he met Cole and told him he wanted to play the track for JAY-Z himself.
A few days later, Pitts called Cole and asked him to visit the Roc Nation offices. You would’ve thought it was some dinner with the rapper. Instead, when Cole arrived, he was informed that JAY-Z wanted to meet with him. Cole found himself face-to-face with his idol, the legendary rapper he had grown up listening to and studying. Much to Cole’s surprise, JAY-Z was already familiar with his music. He had heard “Lights Please” and wanted to offer Cole a record deal with Roc Nation on the spot.
After that meeting, Cole’s life changed forever. He was now linked with the biggest rapper on the planet and had the backing of a powerhouse label. It was a dream come true, but it also presented new challenges. Cole was determined to maintain his music and artistic vision while pursuing mainstream success. His Roc Nation deal made him “next up” in the eyes of many fans and industry figures. Labels was eager to partner with Roc Nation to promote Cole, and he started getting more prominent features and touring opportunities. However, Cole was intent on not relying solely on the JAY-Z association. He wanted his talent and music to speak for itself. The Warm Up had to serve as a launching pad.
The Warm Up generated significant buzz and acclaim upon its release. Cole’s lyrical abilities and beat selection earned him comparisons to rap luminaries like Nas and Kanye West. Many hailed him as the new torchbearer for introspective, socially conscious hip-hop. The tape cemented Cole’s reputation as one of the most promising young MCs in the genre and expanded his grassroots fanbase.
While The Warm Up displayed immense potential, it was just the beginning for J. Cole, but Friday Night Lights, his last mixtape before his debut, reached new levels of peak lyricism. Over the next few years, he would achieve mainstream stardom with albums including Cole World: The Sideline Story, Born Sinner, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and KOD. Each project was more expansive and ambitious than the last, delving deeper into Cole’s psyche and tackling weightier subject matter, even if his works fall short of his standards. Songs like “Lost Ones,” “Crooked Smile,” and “4 Your Eyez Only” established Cole as one of hip-hop’s elite storytellers and a voice for his generation.
Despite his commercial success, Cole somewhat lost the hunger and underdog mentality captured on The Warm Up outside his feature run. Even as he sold out arenas and topped the charts, there was still a sense that he had something to prove. Cole continued to address societal ills and uplift his community as he did on Warm Up tracks like “I Get Up” and “World Is Empty.” His music retained the intimate, diaristic qualities that initially attracted his fans.
Cole made a point to work with and mentor other up-and-coming MCs who reminded him of himself, like JID, Bas, EarthGang, and Ari Lennox. Just as JAY-Z had given him a crucial cosign, Cole used his platform to amplify rising talents. In that way, The Warm Up’s themes of striving, perseverance, and fighting for one’s dreams lived on.
Over a decade later, The Warm Up remains essential to the J. Cole canon. It captures a pivotal time in the rapper’s come-up, just as he was on the cusp of breaking through to the mainstream. The mixtape is a snapshot of a young artist full of drive, raw talent, and something to say. Cole’s artistry has grown by leaps and bounds since The Warm Up laid the blueprint for his success. It contains the seeds of the major themes, sounds, and ideas on which he would build his career.
Great (★★★★☆)