J. Cole

J. Cole Reflects On Playing Pro Basketball In Africa: ‘I Plan To Get Better’

by

After playing a few games with the Rwanda Patriots of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), J. Cole has left the team and returned home. While he didn’t exactly set the world on fire with his on-court contributions, he got to play basketball on a professional level, which is more than most lovers of the game can say. Now that Cole is back home, he has taken some time to reflect on the experience.

In an Instagram post from last night, Cole wrote:

“So many thank you’s are due. Thank you to @thebal and to @patriotsbbc for the opportunity. Thank you to my teammates, the coaches and staff for treating me like family. I learned so much in the few weeks we were together. Congrats on that win tonight and good luck next game. Thank you to @puma for supporting a dream from day 1, and getting me to Rwanda and back safely via Puma jet.

Thank you to the entire country of Rwanda and to the city of Kigali for hosting us. BEAUTIFUL land with BEAUTIFUL people. To anyone considering visiting or moving to the continent, from everything I saw and heard, I would recommend you consider Kigali and Rwanda in general. Thank you to everybody that had kind words for me despite my inexperience. I plan to get better.”

He also wrote a bit more about his basketball experience in another post about his new Puma RS Dreamer sneaker, saying, “The first drop will have a special place in my heart forever, for obvious reasons. These are the ones I took the scariest leap in. That nervous feeling I had playing under the whistle for the first time is the same feeling I had moving to New York without knowing anybody there. I say all that to say, Despite the fear we have to choose to jump, or be forced to live with regret.”

Check out Cole’s posts below.

J. Cole, Kid Cudi, And Future Will Headline Rolling Loud’s Los Angeles Festival

by
J. Cole // Philip Cosores

After music lovers from all over were deprived of live show experiences thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the industry is back in full swing as many of the big-name festivals have announced the lineups for their respective showcases. The latest concert to debut their cast of performers to fans is Rolling Loud, as they announced the lineup for the Los Angeles iteration of their summer festival series. J. Cole, Kid Cudi, and Future have all signed on to headline the festival, and the trio has plenty of music to perform live in front of a large group of fans for the first time.

Cole and Cudi’s set will most likely feature a heavy selection of songs from their respective new albums, The Off-Season and Man On The Moon III: The Chosen. As for Future, the Atlanta rapper has not one, but two albums to showcase thanks to Pluto X Baby Pluto, his joint album with Lil Uzi Vert, and High Off Life.

As expected, the rest of the lineup for Rolling Loud’s Los Angeles festival includes some of the biggest names in music. Well-established names like Wiz Khalifa, Playboi Carti, Moneybagg Yo, Lil Durk, Polo G, Tyga, Drakeo The Ruler, Rod Wave, Lil Tjay, Jack Harlow, and Ski Mask The Slump God can be found among the cast. In addition to that, up-and-coming acts like Pooh Shiesty, Coi Leray, Blxst, Bino Rideaux, 42 Dugg, Morray, $NOT, and Latto will also perform.

This announcement comes after Rolling shared their lineup for their first festival of the year in Miami. There, Travis Scott, ASAP Rocky, and Post Malone will serve as headliners.

You can check out the full lineup in the post above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nicki Minaj Reacts To A Theoretical Mount Rushmore Of 2010s Rap That She’s Not On: ‘Wow’

by
Getty Image

“The Mount Rushmore of [blank]” has become a common framework people like to use to establish who are the best or most important figures of a certain field. For example, The Rock once shared his list of people who would be on his personal Mount Rushmore of wrestling. Now there’s a Mount Rushmore of 2010s rap making the rounds, and Nicki Minaj (who was not included on it) has some thoughts… or rather, one concise but open-ended one.

This afternoon, the Twitter account for Spotify’s popular RapCaviar playlist shared a rendering of a 2010s rap Mount Rushmore, and the graphic features Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and one blank spot. The tweet asks, “Who takes the fourth spot on the Mount Rushmore of the 2010s?” Minaj saw that list and had a simple response, replying on Twitter, “Wow.”

Of course, “wow” could mean a lot of things. Perhaps Minaj is upset that she wasn’t one of the initial three rappers chosen. Aside from her own exclusion, maybe she doesn’t agree with RapCaviar’s picks. Or, maybe seeing Drake, Lamar, and Cole all together gave her perspective on how great hip-hop was in the 2010s and she was responding to that with awe. Whatever the case, the image certainly got a reaction out of Minaj.

It’s not hard to make a case for Minaj to appear on this Mount Rushmore. Her four studio albums (all released in the 2010s) have all been certified Platinum at least once, her first two topped the Billboard 200 chart, and her most recent two achieved chart peaks at No. 2. During the decade, between her own songs and featured appearances, she had 16 top-10 singles, including top-3 highlights like “Super Bass” and “Anaconda.” She also racked up ten Grammy nominations during the 2010s and has been dubbed by many as the “queen of rap.”

J. Cole Has Reportedly Completed His Basketball Contract And Will Return To The US

by
Getty Image

J. Cole — who got to live his dream of professionally playing basketball, if only for a little while — has reportedly completed the terms of his contract with the BAL’s Rwanda Patriots, according to ESPN’s Marc Spears, who reported the news on Twitter. “Source confirms rapper J. Cole of the Rwanda Patriots BBC has completed his contractual obligation to the Basketball Africa League and has departed from Rwanda due to a ‘family obligation,’” he wrote. “J. Cole had five points, three assists, and five rebounds in three games.”

It was Spears who initially announced the surprise signing ahead of the release of Cole’s new album The Off-Season, revealing that the rapper had agreed to a contract for three-to-six games in the newly formed international league. Cole’s manager and business partner Ib Hamad later noted that the timing was purely coincidental due to both the album release and the start of the Basketball Africa League being pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cole’s contract was likely scheduled to last at least the duration of the group stage play, with the additional three games taking place during the tournament contingent on his performance.

Not everyone appreciated having the rap star around, however. Terrell Stoglin, the leading scorer for Morocco’s AS Salé, called Cole’s opportunity “disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this” and felt “he took someone’s job that deserves it.” Although Rick Ross came to Cole’s defense, it appears to be a moot point now; Cole’s basketball career is, for the moment, over.

J. Cole Gives His Rwanda Patriots Teammates New Sneakers

by
Getty Image

While some Basketball Africa League players have expressed their discontent with J. Cole’s position in the newly formed league, Cole’s teammates on the Rwanda Patriots have a new reason to enjoy having him around. In a video shared to TikTok by basketball trainer Omar Khanani and reposted on TheShadeRoom, Cole gives his teammates boxes of new sneakers — presumably, his Puma RS-Dreamers — which they appreciatively try on.

The announcement that J. Cole would be playing professional hoops abroad sparked waves of excitement among his fans and brought plenty of eyes to the nascent league, a joint venture between the NBA and FIBA. However, Cole’s less-than-stellar debut — he scored three points in his first outing and just two in his most recent — prompted Morocco’s AS Sale star Terrell Stoglin, the team’s leading scorer and one of the top scorers in the league, to posit that Cole being there was “taking someone’s job.”

This is a pretty common sentiment among basketball players toward hoopers who underperform, so it’s not surprising to hear. However, Stoglin’s comments drew criticism from rapper Rick Ross, who admonished him in an Instagram video. “You should be there to support the brother,” he said. “If he made one point on the first game, by the time he get to the 10th, you should make sure he makin’ six a game.”

Check out the video of Cole supplying his teammates with new shoes above.

Basketball Star Tries To Ether J. Cole’s Hoop Dreams

by

J. Cole Responds To Noname

Hip-hop superstar J. Cole has single-handedly brought more exposure and attention to the Basketball Africa League than anyone else in the league’s inaugural season. The Grammy-winning artist is pulling double duty with his music and playing ball for the Rwanda Patriots, but not everyone in the BAL is hyped about the famous hitmaker. J. Cole […]

The post Basketball Star Tries To Ether J. Cole’s Hoop Dreams appeared first on SOHH.com.

Rick Ross Responds To The BAL Player That Called J. Cole’s Roster Spot ‘Disrespectful To The Game’

by
Getty Image

Shortly after the release of his latest album, The Off-Season, J. Cole played his first game in the Basketball Africa League. The Dreamville rapper had signed with the Rwanda Patriots to play six matches with the team. Three games have already gone by and while it may be exciting for some to watch Cole play professional basketball, his stats haven’t been great. The rapper has only scored five points in those three games, a performance that caused one BAL player to criticize his roster spot.

“For a guy who has so much money and has another career to just come here and average, like, one point a game and still get glorified is very disrespectful to the game,” Terrell Stoglin, a guard for AS Salé, said. Some people agreed with Stoglin, while others, like Rick Ross, did not. In fact, Ross took to his Instagram Story to respond to Stoglin’s statement.

“In no way is this meant to be disrespectful, but first and foremost, should no Black man’s dreams be censored nor limited,” Ross said. “Comin’ from a brother, I think you would understand what building these types of relationships would do for the business. For the eyes on the industry, you know what I’m sayin’?” He added, “You should be there to support the brother. If he made one point on the first game, by the time he get to the 10th, you should make sure he makin’ six a game, you understand?”

You can listen to Ross’ reply in the video above.

One BAL Player Thinks J. Cole Being On A Roster Is ‘Disrespectful To The Game’

by
Getty Image

J. Cole’s professional basketball career has been, for lack of a better term, pretty modest. As a player for Patriots Basketball Club in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League, Cole has scored five points in three games. He’s looked like, well, a person playing professional basketball for the first time, although he does certainly have some skill on the court.

The biggest thing Cole’s done is bring attention to the league, although for one player, that trade-off is not worth it. Terrell Stoglin, a guard for AS Salé who averages 31 points per game, certainly sees the benefit of “a lot of attention, and, I guess, money” coming in because of Cole, but generally thinks he is disrespecting the game.

Via ESPN:

“I think there’s a negative and a positive [to J. Cole’s presence],” Stoglin told ESPN. “The negative part of it is: I think he took someone’s job that deserves it.

“I live in a basketball world. I don’t live in a fan world. I know a lot of guys that had their careers stopped by COVID and they’re still home working out and training for an opportunity like this.

“For a guy who has so much money and has another career to just come here and average, like, one point a game and still get glorified is very disrespectful to the game. It’s disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed their whole lives for this.”

Patriots chief operating officer Haydee Ndayishimiye unsurprisingly disagrees with this assessment — “We made a basketball decision which can be justified by our performance so far,” she said — but it is fair to point out that someone who has put their life towards playing ball professionally lost out on an opportunity to someone who recently started pursuing a basketball career. Still, the only rule is it has to work, and the brain trust with Patriots seem to be happy with Cole’s performance on the floor.