In his editorial titled, “The Audacity” published by The Players Tribune, J. Cole opened up about his love for basketball and how he had to put it on the back burner to pursue his career in rap.
“When you’re on a mission that big, it leaves very little room in your mind for anything else. However, that night, after returning home from celebrating, I used the last little bit of my mind’s real estate to do some quick mental math. First the thumb, followed by the pointer, and then with the middle finger extended I counted to myself, “If I can blow up in the next three years, that means I’ll only be 27. That still might give me enough time to train and pursue a professional basketball career. I’ll work hard enough to go play overseas and then try to work my way to the NBA.” I smiled at the possibility. Still holding on.” he recalls his previous plans to play basketball and be a rapper.
In his write-up, he also spoke candidly of his past insecurities and competitive nature that kept him from collaborating with fellow artists for a while.
“A combination of a competitive ego mixed with a deep fear of rejection had kept me from collaborating with peers that I respected all of these years and prevented me from building real friendships with them. I had spent my career closed off. I didn’t want that to be the case forever,” he revealed.
One thing is for sure, an artist of Cole’s stature has no reason to be insecure about his rapping capabilities, as he sits at the top of everyone’s Top 5 list.
You can read up on the entire article here.