J. Cole wears his influences on his sleeve. On the back cover of his alleged final album, The Fall-Off, he shared a massive collage of hip-hop records that informed his style. Everyone from Jay-Z and 50 Cent to Beanie Sigel and Eminem made Cole the artist he is today.
However, what might’ve gone unnoticed amidst some of the more star-studded artists on his bedroom wall is a rapper no one talks about much anymore: Canibus. There’s a poster of the Jamaica-born, Bronx-bred rapper’s 2000 B.C. on the wall alongside other icons. Since he has been so open about his relationships with artists like Hov, what was it about Canibus that stood out to J. Cole?
In a March 2013 interview with VICE, the North Carolina legend recalled what some of his earliest songs sounded like. His first record “sounded like Eminem married Nas and had a baby and he made a song.” Then, the next record was a carbon copy from Canibus.
Eventually, Cole would carve out his own style. But initially, it was Canibus’ debut album Can-I-Bus that rocked his world and made him change everything about how he rapped. “The first album? Aw, man, that was a staple in my life. That changed the way I rap,” Cole admitted.
How J. Cole Took Inspiration From Canibus Early in His Career
Then, he’d go on to recall hanging out with his 16-year-old cousin from Louisiana. At the time, he was the coolest person he knew. He had a Jesus piece chain, he was good at basketball, had all the girls, the jerseys. Most importantly, he knew how to rap. Seeing his cousin freestyle for fun made him want to learn immediately.
Consequently, J. Cole ended up emulating a lot of Louisiana rappers back then. He was essentially cloning everyone from No Limit and Cash Money alike. Then, upon discovering Canibus afterwards, his entire vision of rap changed. He listened in awe as Canibus would conjure up strong punchlines, far removed from the blisteringly direct, guttural street raps his cousin once loved. Naturally, J. Cole changed his style accordingly.
“It totally changed the way I looked at rap. It was harder, it took more thought to be so clever and to have these punchlines and to come up with these things and have people react like ‘OOOOOH, THAT’S F***IN’ CRAZY HE SAID THAT,’” Cole giddily reflected.
The post The Underrated Rapper That Changed How J. Cole Made Music Early in His Career: ‘That Was a Staple in My Life’ appeared first on VICE.
