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J. Cole Quotes

Powerful J. Cole for Daily Growth

I was just a goofy little funny kid, who was always getting sent to the principal. It wasn't serious because I was smart. I wasn't like a true troublemaker, just rambunctious - like, talkative and trying to be funny. That was me in middle-school.

- J. Cole

Always, Like, Talkative, Goofy

I'm the same kid who used to hop the trains with headphones and just go to downtown Manhattan, walk around and listen to music or walk through the city. The fame restricts that. It's a small complaint in comparison to the benefits I get from it, but the restrictive part is what I don't like - and the fact that it's not reversible.

- J. Cole

Small, Through, Benefits, Manhattan

No rapper in the world from Jay-Z to Tupac to Biggie has 100 percent love on everything they do.

- J. Cole

Love, World, Biggie, Jay-Z

I struggled with being a broke college graduate, and while all my friends were getting career jobs, I was working horrible part-time jobs. That's why now, even when I get tired, I think, 'This is what I asked for.'

- J. Cole

College, Career, I Think, Asked

There was the time I bought three cars in the span of three or four weeks. It was crazy; it wasn't greedy. It was mine, my girl's, my mom's. I got Benzes for my ladies. But I felt crazy. You have to understand I come from a world where we're very modest. But that's not greedy. That's nice, right?

- J. Cole

Mom, Very, Weeks, Ladies

I just feel like, with rappers, there's so much complacency. It's like, 'Oh, I'm a rapper. I'm successful. I make money. That's all that matters.' But there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. Whether or not you're aware of it, it's happening.

- J. Cole

Complacency, Feel, Rapper, Rappers

Usually I start with a beat, I start making a beat, and my producer side is making the beat. And on a good day, my rapper side will jump in and start the writing process - maybe come up with a hook or start a verse. Sometimes it just happens like that. A song like 'Lights Please' happens like that.

- J. Cole

Good, Sometimes, Maybe, Rapper

I want people to follow their dreams, yes... but I'm not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers... I want to show them that there's so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.

- J. Cole

Young, Other, Telling, Rapper

When I was in college my girl got me a job at the doctor's office she was working at. I was a file clerk. No disrespect but I don't think a man can do that job. It takes so much meticulous and precise file-keeping.

- J. Cole

College, Disrespect, Think, Clerk

When you're headlining, people are paying to come see you specifically. It's a different kind of pressure, because you've got to deliver. You've got to give these people what they paid for. It's a different mind state, a different type of mentality, but it's honestly a pretty good problem to have, you know?

- J. Cole

Deliver, Got, Different Kind, Specifically

I've always been an underdog. I feel like I beat the odds.

- J. Cole

Underdog, Always, Been, Odds

I had a rat-tail when I was younger. I had this nice Bobby Brown fade, with a rat-tail that was long enough to wrap around my face. I used to chew on the end and bite it.

- J. Cole

Enough, Younger, Had, Fade

I met Will Smith twice. I didn't talk to him for too long but I was trying to let him know that my age group grew up watching him - he was the coolest guy on television and the coolest guy in movies.

- J. Cole

Him, Guy, Smith, Coolest

Rhyme patterns are nothing without meanings to the words. A lot of rappers can do those flows, but the raps aren't really about anything - which is cool sometimes, but to have the flow and the message is one of my favorite things.

- J. Cole

Sometimes, Without, About, Favorite Things

As much as it might look like, to someone else, that I'm successful, I never feel like I'm anywhere. The further I go, I still feel equally further from my eventual goal. Because as I grow, I get more goals. I'm never content.

- J. Cole

Feel, Equally, Anywhere, Goals

I've got two Rolexes that I'm very proud of - a gold Presidential that was a gift and a white gold one I gifted myself. I'm trying to step my game up and get a few more of those.

- J. Cole

Gift, Game, Very, Presidential

Touring is very routine. You get to the city, you go to the hotel, you got to be at the hotel by a certain time - it's very routine. I'm not a very structured person, so when I get some structure, it's cool; it's good for me.

- J. Cole

City, Some, Very, Structured

My parents were divorced by the time I was even conscious - like, I don't remember them ever being together.

- J. Cole

Like, Them, By The Time, Divorced

I'm a super-duper over-analyzer. You mix that with self-doubt and pressure, and that's never healthy.

- J. Cole

Pressure, Healthy, Never, Mix

I do put a lot of God in my music, but not because I'm super religious. There are a lot of demons in my music, too. I acknowledge both.

- J. Cole

Religious, Put, Both, Demons

I feel like I'm a New Yorker because I really know the city. I actually tell the drivers where to go - I have this bad habit, I always question the drivers. I do that all the time because I feel like I know the best way, when really it's like, 'Yo, man, shut up. This dude does this every day of his life.'

- J. Cole

Bad, Shut, Best Way, Drivers

I worked in ad sales. I would call up local businesses and try to get them to buy ads in the paper. The whole time, I felt like I was just scamming people.

- J. Cole

Like, Buy, Ad, Businesses

I actually started off majoring in computer science, but I knew right away I wasn't going to stay with it. It was because I had this one professor who was the loneliest, saddest man I've ever known. He was a programmer, and I knew that I didn't want to do whatever he did. So after that, I switched to Communications.

- J. Cole

Computer, Away, Had, Right Away

I actually started off majoring in computer science, but I knew right away I wasn't going to stay with it. It was because I had this one professor who was the loneliest, saddest man I've ever known. He was a programmer, and I knew that I didn't want to do whatever he did.

- J. Cole

Computer, Away, Had, Right Away

I now possess the tools as a producer and a songwriter to really just go out and make smashes all day long. I could make an album full of smash records that got pop appeal. But my heart is in hip-hop. My heart is in telling stories. And it's like therapy for me.

- J. Cole

Tools, Records, Telling, Smash

I'm half-black, half-white, so I basically put it like this: I can fit in anywhere. That's why I write so many stories from so many different perspectives, because I've seen so many.

- J. Cole

Why, I Write, Anywhere, Perspectives

I pay attention to lyrics and I know what rap fans care about. I try to write for the average listener and I'm conscious of the mainstream without selling out.

- J. Cole

Pay Attention, Average, Rap, Lyrics

I want to be like Bruce Springsteen or something, making songs that are relevant.

- J. Cole

Making, Relevant, Like, None

I was a class clown. At 12, I was definitely clowning. I was making all the jokes. But I was smart, so the teachers didn't know what to do with me.

- J. Cole

Smart, Making, Class Clown, Jokes

I was a super-duper Tupac fan, and I realized later, when I became a huge Nas fan and a huge Eminem fan, I was drawn to the storytellers. They all told stories in different ways, but they were all like the best storytellers.

- J. Cole

Like, Stories, Became, Storytellers

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