J. Cole at Capital One Arena

 American hip hop recording artist and record producer J Cole first made waves in the rap scene in 2007 with the release of his mixtape, The Come Up. Two years later, he appeared on  Jay Z's album The Blueprint 3, on the track "A Star Is Born," and went on to sign to Jay-Z's Roc Nation imprint later that year. Cole's debut studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, was released in 2011, debuting at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and soon gaining platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He followed with two more platinum-selling albums – 2013's Born Sinner and 2014's 2014 Forest Hills Drive – the latter earning him his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. Cole's fourth studio album, 4 Your Eyez Only (2016), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum in 2017. KOD, his fifth and most recent LP, was released in April 2018.