Jermaine Cole more popularly known as J Cole is a rapper, singer, and composer. His first foray into superstardom was through his first mixtape “The Come Up” which was released in 2007. He has come a long way since then and turned into a platinum-certified artist and award-winning musician.
J. Cole has an estimated net worth of $82 million. Being one of the highest-paid rappers in the world, J Cole earns around $30 million on an annual basis through music sales, production, and tours. His other business ventures include Dreamville Records and a partnership deal with Puma. Cole also serves as Executive Director of the Dreamville Foundation.
While many celebrity net worth sites estimate the same $60 Million figure for Cole, our original research and proprietary algorithm estimate that J. Cole is actually worth approximately $82 Million.
J Cole's Career
Born on January 28, 1985, on a military base in Frankfurt, Germany, J Cole’s father served in the U.S. military while his mother Kay Cole, served as a postal worker for the US postal service. His family moved from West Germany to the United States before his first birthday. His music inclination began at a young age, 12 years old, when he began rapping.
By the time he was 14, he had notebooks filled with lyrics and songs. His mom helped fuel his musical interest by purchasing a beat machine so he could produce his own music. Fast forward to a couple of years later, J Cole would produce music and post his songs online.
After graduating high school, Cole went on to graduate from St. John's University where he met his wife, Melissa Heholt.
J. Cole’s musical influences include Nas, Tupac Shakur, Eminem, and Jay Z.
His style is lyrical and storytelling rap which is similar to the musical styles of his influences. Cole is also reportedly close with Kendrick Lamar.
His second mixtape, “The Warm up” was released in 2009 and was welcomed with plenty of commercial success. This led to him getting recognized by famous musicians like legendary American rapper Jay-Z and Drake. In 2010, he signed to Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation.
By 2011, J Cole toured with Drake and released his first studio album called “Cole World: The Sideline Story”. The album quickly reached #1 on the Billboard charts and was certified platinum. It featured a collaboration with famous female wrapper, Missy Elliott
His second studio album was released in 2013 called “Born Sinner” and also reached #1 on the Billboard charts. The lead single from that album, “Power Trip”, was nominated for multiple awards including a Grammy nomination for best rap performance.
The following year he released “Forest Hills Drive” and he earned his first Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album. Also in 2014 Cole's record company, Dreamville Records, released its first compilation album titled “Revenge of the Dreamers”.
In 2016, he released his fourth album called 4 Your Eyez Only, and in 2018 he released his fifth studio album called KOD. His most recent album was released in 2021 called “The Off-Season”.
J. Cole has earned the distinction of being the first rapper with six consecutive #1 albums through Billboard 2000.
Besides rapping and making music, J Cole dabbled into other ventures which included his own record label Dreamville Records, as well as a nonprofit organization called Dreamville Foundation.
The Dreamville Foundation serves underprivileged youth by hosting school drives and book clubs for young men. Through this foundation, J Cole holds a yearly concert called Dreamville Festival which features local artists, food, and culture with the proceeds benefiting the Dorothea Dix Park Conservatory in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Cole is also an award-winning artist. Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, a Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Album, 3 Soul Train Music Awards, and 8 BET Hip Hop Awards.
Cole finally broke through and won his first Grammy Award in 2020 when his hit single “A Lot” won Best Rap Song.
J. Cole's Career Earnings
J Cole owns his masters, which means that all royalties from radio play to streaming sites go directly into J Cole. This makes him one of the biggest earning rappers of all time. He also has different business ventures that he dabbled in which increased his profitability.
He founded Dreamville Records with his business manager Ibrahim Hamad in 2007. Since the inception of this business venture, J Cole has released nine albums three of them platinum-certified. His approach to producing albums is from a rapper and lyricist standpoint which is why artists are drawn to his label.
In 2020, J Cole entered into a partnership with Puma for a footwear and apparel line. Later that year, Puma released Puma RS-Dreamer in collaboration with J Cole which retails at $90.
His 3% ownership of music streaming company Tidal paid off big time when Twitter founder Jack Dorsey purchased the company which led to J Cole taking in a profit of almost $9 million from the acquisition.
J. Cole's Concert Earnings
Historically, J Cole concert tours have generated earnings of approximately $60 million per concert tour. In 2015, the Northern American leg of his tour earned $16 million. After the pandemic, J Cole was one of the highest-earning hip-hop tours in the post-pandemic era until he was dethroned by Tyler the Creator.
The earnings that come from concert tours make up most of J Cole’s estimated net worth. His 2015 Forest Hills Drive tour raked in $20 million while his 2017 4 Your Eyez Only tour garnered $35 million. His KOD tour in 2018 brought in $26 million which is a slightly lower figure considering that this specific tour did not have a European leg.
J. Cole's Album Sales
A portion of J Cole’s net worth also comes from album sales. The release of his KOD album in 2018 broke records with Apple Music’s steaming with 64 million streams within the first 24 hours. It also broke Spotify’s record for most first-day album streams in the US with more than 36 million streams.
Since streaming service is much cheaper compared to physical album sales, this results in just over a million dollars in sales from the KOD album. J Cole also makes money when it comes to collaborating and writing verses for fellow artists like Wale and Young Thug.
J. Cole vs Kanye West
One of the names that come up when talking about rappers is Kanye West. In comparison to J Cole’s net worth, Kanye is estimated to be worth $6 billion. This is because Kanye ventures into other avenues and don’t just focus on music.
His clothing line, Yeezy is valued at almost $4 billion. Kanye also has partnerships with The Gap and Adidas which contributes positively to his net worth. Kanye’s music catalog is valued at $80 million.
While J. Cole's net worth does not rival that of Kanye West, J. Cole is not afraid to go toe to toe with a superstar. Cole was a lifelong fan of Kanye and often sung his praises. The two rappers have been compared to each other in recent years.
In 2013, J. Cole famously moved the release date to compete with the release of Kanye's Yeezus. It was a move that baffled fans. Cole was making a statement that he believes his album deserves the same respect that Kanye's receives and he does not back down from a challenge.
J Cole's Platinum Albums
J Cole’s mixtapes and studio albums were a hit commercially which is why he is at the peak of success right now. His albums have debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 on multiple occasions. Here’s a list of J Cole’s platinum-certified albums:
- Cole World: The Sideline Story
- Born Sinner (2x Platinum)
- 2014 Forest Hills Drive (3x Platinum)
- 4 Your Eyez Only
- KOD
J. Cole's Basketball Career
J. Cole enjoyed a successful high school basketball career in Fayetteville. He allegedly attempted to walk on at St. John's University but never logged minutes for the Red Storm. Cole's love for basketball has been well documented and landed him a spot in the NBA All-Star Celebrity game in 2012.
Cole has hinted at his desire to pursue a career in professional basketball but most fans did not take those comments seriously. In 2021, J. Cole legitimized those comments when he signed a contract with the Patriot Basketball Club of Basketball Africa League. It is not reported how much money the American rapper would receive to play for PBC.
While Cole is one of the more successful rappers of the past decade, his basketball career has not been quite as successful. J. Cole only appeared in 3 games for the African professional team where he averaged 1.7 PPG. Most recently, J. Cole joined the Canadian Elite Basketball League when he signed a contract with the Scarborough Shooting Stars.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is J. Cole's real name?
Jermaine Lamarr Cole
What was J. Cole's Debut Album?
J. Cole released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story in 2011. He had previously released two mixtapes: The Warm Up and The Come Up in 2009-2010 but Cole World: The Sideline Story is considered his first true studio album.
