0 J. Cole Talks "Who Dat", Drake Collabo, Cosigns & More w/ Vibe Magazine

In the first of many online cover stories to come, Vibe Magazine chops it up with J. Cole about his 1st single "Who Dat", the possibility of him and Drake working together, groupies vs. relationships, getting cosigned by Nas & More. You can peep an excerpt of the interview below:

VIBE: Everyone knows how important first singles are. Why was “Who Dat” the one?

J. Cole: First it was all feeling, just the sound and excitement behind it. Instead of shooting for an obviously commercial song, I love [“Who Dat”] because it’s really about the beat and the raps and not much more. It’s an introduction to those that were unfamiliar and also something for my fans to brag about as opposed to hearing it on the radio and being like ‘Ehhh.’ I also thought it was real ill, that I’m rapping on that the way I used to always rap… raw, aggressive. Those used to be the only raps I wrote, but as I get older, I barely do those anymore. It’s kind of interesting because the rest of my album is so far from that. That’s probably one of the only braggadocios raps, maybe one more. Everything else is conceptual storytelling with substance and meaning. Putting that out first, kind of reflects my growth as an artist.

VIBE: You’ve been on a lot of other people’s tracks, but it’s usually not the reverse. Is that changing for your debut?

J. Cole: Right now there’s really no big features on my album and I plan on keeping it like that. I kinda like the idea of having an album that’s all me. If I do a feature, I want to do it because I really love it, not because they’re what’s hot now. I want to do a track with Rich Boy, even though his last single to blow was a couple years ago. But I still want to work with him because he has an incredible rap style. I could be like Jeezy’s on fire, let me get him, but that’s not how I operate. If I do a feature it really has to make sense, not that I don’t want to work with Jeezy, because I would love that, but you know [laughs].

VIBE: About a month ago, Drake mentioned the possibility of you jumping on a Thank Me Later bonus cut. Fact?

J. Cole: Man, me and Drake have been trying to get something done. Actually, if he reads this, tell him to send the shit he supposed to send. [Laughs] I understand we both busy and we spoke about doing some shit, but I guess schedule wise it hasn’t worked out. That would be ill, but as of now it’s not done.

VIBE: What’s an actual conversation like between you guys? Is it past a ‘What’s good’ and ‘Congrats’?

J. Cole: It’s not that type of relationship yet. Right now, it’s a mutual respect, like I see what you’re doing, you’re killing the game, I’m a fan or whatever the case is. We’re both young and even though he’s more established and has hits, he still doesn’t have an album out. He still has to prep for that. So we’re not in the position to be best friends. We can save that for when we’re both laid up and chilling, but right now we both have work to do. There’s not many rappers who I feel I really know. I think Wale is one of the few that I have a real friendship with. Not saying that won’t happen with Drake because you never know, but right now it starts with respect.

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