J. Cole Talks Outselling Kanye West, Kendrick's "Control" Verse & More

During the promotion period for video game Splinter Cell: Backlist, J. Cole took a moment out with Noisey to chat up a few things. Discussion covered topics like outselling Kanye West‘s Yeezus, Kendrick Lamar‘s “Control” verse, his music be labeled boring, and why he feels like he’s still got something to prove.

Outselling Kanye West:

I don’t wake up every day like, ‘I got a great status in the rap game.’ No, I feel behind. I don’t feel like I’ve done enough. I only get brief moments to appreciate things. I might get a two minute thought of like, ‘Wow, you really did sell more than Kanye. You currently have sold more records than Kanye West’s album, which came out the same day.’ Then I’m back to focusing on what’s next.

Kendricks Lamar’s “Control” verse:

That’s rap, man. That’s rap music. That’s a part of the game. It’s natural. It’s fine.

Being labeled ‘boring’:

It’s funny, but it’s sad. Everybody has their own style of music that they like. I could never let that affect me in the way I make music. The people who like ‘Soul Plane’ are probably gonna think ‘Shawshank Redemption’ is boring. It’s not the end of the world.
It’s cool that people care, because five years ago, nobody cared, but I don’t care about the chattering. It’s becoming more and more like noise to me.

You can check out the full interview with Ernest Baker here and, if you haven’t done so, check out his newly released visual for ”Crooked Smile.

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