In the 2010s, J. Cole ascended to become one of the most beloved and commercially viable rappers in the industry. He built a loyal fanbase with his mix of lyrical dexterity, earnestness and a do-it-yourself approach to much of his production and recording. But perhaps most importantly, J. Cole fans are so attached to him because they feel like they’ve been aboard his journey from day one. The Fayetteville, North Carolina, native earned a scholarship to St. John’s University, graduating in 2007. In the meantime, he honed his craft as a rapper and producer while working a telemarketing job. He famously waited in the rain outside the offices of JAY-Z’s Roc the Mic Studios for three hours to give him a beat CD, with hopes that he’d use them on his 2007 album American Gangster. Jay declined the young upstart’s demo, but Cole did the next-best thing: He used those beats for himself as the foundation of his debut, The Come Up Mixtape Vol. 1. Listeners didn’t know then that he would eventually sign to Roc Nation and make a song with Jay, but they received ground-level access to an artist who was motivated and talented. He counted rappers like Canibus, Eminem, 2Pac and Nas as influences, and those were clear—he had clever punchlines, dexterous rhyme schemes and lyrics that were thoughtful and introspective without veering too far into preachy or conscious territory. “Simba” and “Dollar and a Dream” would be the beginning of motifs he’d use to display the hunger for success that his die-hard fans remember him by. In hip-hop, rags-to-riches stories are a dime a dozen, but it’s different when you were there the whole time.