Notes for J.Cole

Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985), better known by his stage name J. Cole, is an American hip-hop recording artist and record producer from Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 2009, he became the first artist to sign to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. His debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story was released on September 27, 2011. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard200, Top R&B Albums and Top Rap Albums chart, selling more than 218,000 in its first week. He received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 54th Grammy Awards.

Cole was born in the 97th General Hospital at a United States Army base in Frankfurt, West Germany. His father is African-American and served in the United States Army,and his mother is white. At the age of 8 months, Cole relocated to Fayetteville,North Carolina, where he was raised by his mother, aunt and cousin. His father left the family when Cole was still young.

Cole started rapping at the age 12, becoming serious about it at the age of 15. He hooked up with a local group called Bomm Sheltuh, which included rappers Nervous Reck and FilthE Ritch. Around this time he added record production to his repertoire and his stage name was Therapist.

Cole grew up in a multi-ethnic environment. His childhood revolved around a love for both basketball and rap music. He attended Terry Sanford High School and decided to study guitar under the well-known artist Mark Ebert. Cole graduated from high school in 2003. He concluded that he had a better chance of getting a record deal in New York City, so he chose to attend St. John's University on an academic scholarship. There, he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude.

On his mixed-race background, Cole indicated in an October 2011 issue of the hip-hop magazine XXL:

“

I can identify with White people, because I know my mother, her side of the family, who I love. I've had White friends. I know people from high school that I might not have hung out with outside of high school, but I think I got to know them pretty well, so I know they sense of humor. But at the end of the day, I never felt White. I don't know what that feels like. I can identify. But never have I felt like I'm one of them. Not that I wanted to, or tried to, but it just was what it was. I identify more with what I look like, because that's how I got treated. Not necessarily in a negative way. But when you get pulled over by the police, I can't pull out my half-White card. Or if I just meet you on the street, you're not gonna be like, This guy seems half-White.

Brainstorm

5 Media Texts:

• Films
• Magazines
• Social Networking
• TV shows
• Music

Main 3:

Social Networking sites:

1. Social networking sites can be a cause of bullying mainly to the younger generation who are most likely to be using sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
2. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter can be a huge distraction as people are most likely to want to spend more time online using social networking sites rather than getting their revision done.
3. An advantage on social networking sites would be that it enables people to communicate with other people who may not be in the country. This is beneficial for most people as they are able to use social networking sites as a source of communications even to those who are abroad.
4. A disadvantage would be there people may complain that there are not enough options for privacy. Peoples profiles can still be seen etc and some people may not want this. Therefore it creates problems and may put people off in wanting to create an account/profile.

Films:

1. Films can be seen as entertaining - it takes up peoples time so if they wanted to kill time and keep up with the latest films, it comes across as entertainment for people and families.
2. Piracy - People can illegally record films at cinemas and sell them in busy locations which is seen as a disadvantage to the film industry as people are most likely to buy pirate copies rather than pay the full price for a cinema ticket.
3. Word of mouth - people can watch the film and if it is not up to customer standards, they're likely to spread the word that the film is not worth watching. Also, twitter bombing online causes people not to watch the film resulting in fewer views and lower income on tickets.
4. Escapism - People are drawn into the film, takes them away from every day life.

Music:

1. Music makes a huge impact of peoples lives especially those from the younger generation.
2. Music videos become an inspiration to the younger generation as they're the ones most likely to be influences to do and act the same way as the artists they see in music videos.
3. Some artists may be seen as inspirational which is seen through the artists lyrics as they may be lyrically talented and have a specific message that they are trying to portray.
4. Entertainment
5. Puts people in specific moods, emotional, happy, dance etc.