2014… The Year of the “J”

2014 may indeed be the year of J. Cole. In January alone, he celebrated his 29^th birthday, sold out the 5,600 seat Theater at Madison Square Garden where he was officially “Roc chained” and sealed a deal to firmly stand on the shoulders of his mentor and Roc Nation boss Jay Z. J.Cole adds the title of label executive to his resume, announcing a partnership with Interscope Records to form a new label, Dreamville.  The deal is the result of J. Cole’s meeting with Interscope executive Joie Manda, who held the belief that J. Cole possessed the savvy to be an executive and CEO as well as an artist and producer.

Bas, a member of J. Cole’s “Dreamville” crew is the only artist officially signed to Cole’s joint venture. Bas will release Dreamville’s first official project, “Last Winter,” on March 6. The album will be given away for free online and be available for purchase on iTunes. Dreamville has been the name of J. Cole’s informal crew since before the deal and although he wouldn’t discuss when his own next album is coming out, he’ll definitely have his hands with Dreamville and fulfilling a short-term goal to sell out the Arena at Madison Square Garden.

Although J. Cole signed a recording deal with Roc Nation/Columbia in 2009 releasing two chart topping albums he says his relationship with those labels as a recording artist hasn’t changed, despite the Dreamville deal with Interscope.  Cole insists “I love Columbia and I love Roc Nation, they’re the reason I can even do this  Jimmy Iovine told me that no one turns a spark into a flame like Interscope, and that’s what made me choose them.”

Joie Manda

Will the collaborating minds of Cole and Manda become the next generation’s Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine? Stay tuned.