Everything was fine until Cole was set to leave for college. He saw his mother’s second marriage crumble after it was revealed his stepfather had become abusive. Cole’s mother found a new boyfriend who got her addicted to crack. Even though his home life was a bit of a mess, Cole always found peace in music. He started rapping at an early age and continued working on his music during college. Cole graduated from St. John’s University magna cum laude in 2007 with a degree in communications. Also happening in 2007? He dropped his debut mixtape, The Come Up. But it was his second mixtape in 2009 that got eyes on him. One of the tracks from the mixtape made its way to music executive Mark Pitts, who then shared it with Jay Z. What’s interesting is that Cole had actually tried to hand Jay Z his demo after waiting outside the studio for him, only to be told, “Man, I don’t want that sht.” Turns out, he did want that sht. Jay signed Cole to Roc Nation and in 2011, his debut studio album, Cold World: The Sideline Story, was released. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold over 200,000 copies in its first week, which is very impressive for a new artist. J. Cole’s net worth was well on its way to reaching millionaire status. As of 2016, it has sold nearly 900,000 copies. The album featured hit singles like Work Out and Nobody’s Perfect. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and was considered to be one of the best rap albums of 2011. He released his second studio album, Born Sinner, in 2013 and it debuted in the number two spot on the charts. It sold nearly 300,000 copies during its first week and then peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 three weeks after being released. Without a doubt, J. Cole’s net worth was increasing in unbelievable ways. In 2014, his third studio album was released, and it once again debuted at number one. But perhaps more important, it received a lot of love from critics and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 58th Grammy Awards. It won Album of the Year at the 2015 BET Awards. It’s J. Cole’s best-selling album to date with over one million copies sold. The success has continued for Cole throughout the years. His latest album, KOD, was released in 2018 and it debuted at number one as well. It was his fifth consecutive number one album. Several hip hop blogs called it the best hip hop album of 2018. J. Cole’s net worth is estimated to be at a cool $30 to $35 million. In 2017, he was at $20 million. His wealth continues to climb and we see no end to his successes!
