Jay-Z Labeled My Album As A Classic, Says J.Cole

Roc Nation rapper J. Cole has opened up about his upcoming Cole World: The Sideline Story debut album nearing release and revealed how highly rap mogul Jay-Z regards the LP.

According to Cole, Jay has certified the long-awaited album as a classic.

Jay-Z has spoken. The hip-hop tycoon has given his stamp of approval to J. Cole's debut album, calling it a "classic." Jay's protégé had the daunting task of playing the album for his Roc Nation boss. "When I played him the album, I could gauge his response not on what he said, but what his vibe was," Cole exclusively tells Rap-Up.com. "I linked up with [Roc Nation executive] Rich Kleiman and he said he was with Jay-Z later that night. Out of nowhere, Jay said, 'So Cole got a classic. That motherf*cker.'" (Rap-Up)

A few weeks ago, Jay discussed the reason behind delaying Roc Nation artists' albums.

"J. Cole is pretty close, he's coming out in September," Jay told Angie Martinez on August 1st. "He's got a great album. Jay Electronica is working on a great album as well. He's pretty close. Bridget Kelly just released -- her debut song, 'Thinking About Forever' -- For me, if you're gonna come sign to Roc Nation, just realize it's going to take a second. I'm into artists. I'm not really into putting a single out. It takes a minute to build artists. It's just true. You can't come off the street and make a classic. Rarely does that happen. Lauryn Hill was in the business for 700 years before she put out the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. She had to go through some things. You have to go through some things." (Hot 97)

Recently, Roc Nation's J. Cole talked about the organic creation of his long-awaited upcoming debut.

"All the songs on the album just happened naturally. There was never a 'Oh, we need this kind of song'," Cole explained in an interview. "Everything happened naturally and very organically...It wasn't until I started playing it for people and I kept getting those responses like, 'Man, this is really musical,' -- To me, that's regular; that's what you should do on an album. I try to do that as much as possible, even on my mixtapes. So on the album, of course, I took it to the next level." (MTV)

Prior to receiving a September 27th release date, Cole said the LP would drop no later than next month.

"I'm trying to find ways to word it without sounding overly egotistical, and I want to remain humble, but also let people know it's actually (really) incredible," Cole said about the new LP. "I'm sitting on gold, man. I don't wanna speak it up too much but I'm super confident in it. I'm super proud." The album is due "absolutely no later than September," says Cole, who's been reticent to release an album title or date until both are set in stone. (Detroit News)