The Warm Up

J Cole Officially Releases The Song That Got Him Signed To Jay-Z, “Lights Please”

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J Cole has been fulfilling fans’ aspirations over the last few days since dropping his audio series, Inevitable. People were hoping that the North Carolina luminary would reissue some of his earliest works of his career once they saw the titles of some of the episodes. “The Come Up” went on to spawn his first mixtape that same day. Then, on Friday, he would drop off want many view to be his first true classic project, The Warm Up (2009). It’s also one of his most important releases of his journey to superstardom thanks to some key tracks.

“Lights Please,” also one of his earliest hits, was essentially the record that convinced the almighty JAY-Z to sign J Cole to Roc Nation. We can see why this was the one to win him over, as the wordplay and storytelling are top notch. The frustrating accounts of the Dreamville boss being with a woman who only wants her desires met while he tries to develop the relationship by sharing his dreams and stresses is heartbreaking. Because of this, it’s one of Cole’s best “love” records too, if you even want to call it that. There’s no wonder why he put this on The Sideline Story just two years later.

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“Lights Please” – J Cole

Quotable Lyrics:

I told her all about how we been livin’ a lie
And that they love to see us all go to prison or die
Like, “Baby, look at how they show us on the TV screen”
But all she ever want me to do is unzip her jeans
Then all I really want is for her to get on top
Before you know it, she workin’, jerkin’ it nonstop

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[Via]

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J. Cole’s Breakout Mixtape ‘The Warm Up’ Is Finally Available On Streaming Platforms

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J. Cole’s trip down music memory lane continues. Last week, the “Port Antonio” rapper posted his debut mixtape, The Come Up, Vol. 1, to digital streaming platforms. Yesterday (November 22) another Cole World goodie was shared to streaming.

J. Cole’s sophomore mixtape, 2009’s The Warm Up, is now accessible across Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. While many J. Cole supporters consider The Come Up, Vol. 1 his breakout, The Warm Up was undeniably his breakthrough.

As Cole lore goes, the project’s single, “Lights Please” caught Jay-Z’s attention which lead to a deal with Roc Nation. The rest is hip-hop history.

Following its release, J. Cole’s longtime friend, manager, and business partner Ibrahim ‘Ib’ Hamad took to X (formerly Twitter) to talk about the challenges in getting the project onto the music servers.

“Took us 15 years, but I’m so happy we’re able to get this up,” he wrote. “This project is very special to me, shit really put Cole in the game, and we ain’t look back since. Forever grateful for this project, legit changed n****s lives forever.’”

Continue below to view the tracklist and artwork for J. Cole’s The Warm Up.

Tracklist

1. “Intro (The Warm Up)”
2. “Welcome”
3. “Can I Live”
4. “Grown Simba”
5. “Just To Get By”
6. “Lights Please”
7. “Dead Presidents II”
8. “I Get Up”
9. “World Is Empty”
10. “Dreams” featuring Brandon Hines
11. “Royal Flush”
12. “Dollar And A Dream II”
13. “Water Break (Interlude)”
14. “Heartache”
15. “Get Away”
16. “Knock Knock”
17. “Ladies” featuring Lee Fields and The Expressions
18. “Til’ Infinity”
19. “The Badness” featuring Omen
20. “Hold It Down”
21. “Last Call”
22. “Losing My Balance”

Artwork

Cole World Inc

The Warm Up is on streaming now via Cole World Inc./Interscope. Find more information here.