Rap heads know the story of 2014 Forest Drive by now. It's the house J. Cole grew up in as a teenager in Fayetteville, N.C., and the one he just re-purchased this summer. But the 29-year-old rapper recently offered up some interesting details from his upbringing to The London Evening Standard.
"Kids from home look at me and think, 'Whoa, this dude is from right where I'm from and he made it against impossible odds," Cole said. "One of the best rappers in the game is from Fayetteville -- that doesn't happen!'"
According to the story, Cole was born in Frankfurt, Germany, the son of a white German mother and a black soldier father.
When Cole (first name: Jermaine) moved to Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville with his mom, his dad didn't follow. Ms. Cole's job as a mail carrier and a re-marriage to another soldier helped provided enough income to buy a house on the nicer side of town, but things weren't exactly going well.
"There were days when my mom would have to scrape up nickels and dimes to give me $1.50 lunch money," Cole said. "And I would know she wasn't eating lunch that day so that I could. I wasn't fooled, I wasn't like, 'We're rich!' I was very aware that we were barely here."
Still, the new place provided a sanctuary.
"That house had everything to do with the course of my life," Cole said. "Having my own bedroom did a lot for me. I had privacy to listen to music, rap in front of the mirror, write, daydream. Family life wasn't terrible but there wasn't a lot of love in the house. It was good to be able to close the door."
And he obviously hasn't forgotten where he came from, given the fact that he's living in that house again and just named his new album after the street address.
"I know that for the rest of my life, what will bring me stability and happiness is focusing on those things that are for ever, and are way more important than shit that means nothing ultimately," he said. "It took me 29 years to learn that what's going to bring me happiness does not come in the form of anything material."
