Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following.
Each of Cole's studio albums have debuted atop the US Billboard 200, beginning with his debut Cole World: The Sideline Story and its follow up, Born Sinner. Both met with critical acclaim, the albums yielded the Billboard Hot 100-top 40 singles "Work Out", "Power Trip", and "Crooked Smile". Despite commercial success, Cole departed from the pop-oriented sound of the albums in favor of conscious subject matter for his subsequent projects; themes of nostalgia, racial inequality, and materialism were explored respectively in his following releases: 2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only and KOD.