J. Cole Essentials

Raised on 2Pac, Biggie, Nas and JAŸ-Z, J. Cole emerged in the 2010s as a torchbearer for serious hip-hop. The first signee to Hova’s Roc Nation label, he has proven to be a deft team player, producing as well as rhyming alongside Missy Elliott on 2012’s “Nobody’s Perfect” and TLC on 2013’s “Crooked Smile”. Yet he excels on his own, too, with his deeply personal—and strictly guest-free—2014 album 2014 Forest Hills Drive continuing his multi-platinum track record thanks to enduring smashes like “No Role Modelz”. Subsequent albums have often meditated on particular subjects at length: Part of 2016’s 4 Your Eyez Only was written from the perspective of a slain friend, while 2018’s KOD unpacked the lure of addiction in money (“ATM”), sex (”Kevin’s Heart”) and drugs (“KOD”). Despite the gravity of his subjects, Cole is the rare artist who successfully reconciles the conscious with the commercial—look no further than his emotive, chart-topping 2024 mixtape, Might Delete Later.