Kanye West once went head to head with 50 Cent when the two released their albums on the same date to outsell each other. History somewhat repeated itself with J. Cole, who similarly tried to outdo the “Stronger” artist in record sales.
Why J. Cole wanted to beat Kanye West J. Cole held no ill will toward Kanye West back when he clashed with the fashion mogul.
The two have even collaborated on certain projects, which Cole hoped would be a frequent occurrence. “I’m such a Kanye West fan,” Cole said in a 2010 interview with Vulture . “With people like that, I just like to earn my own way, earn my keep kind of.
I would love to work with him on a major scale. Not just a song here or a song there — I would love to do something extraordinary with him. But I feel like I gotta step my game up and kind of earn my spot before I can worry about that.
” But the rapper saw an opportunity to truly be West’s peer when West released his sixth studio album, Yeezus , on June 18, 2013. Around the same time, Cole released his sophomore album, Born Sinner , which was scheduled to debut a month after the West album. But after some consideration, Cole changed his plans and released Born Sinner on the same day as Yeezus .
“Instantly the lightbulb [turned on]...
it got real. I made one phone call to somebody that would know, just to make sure first. As soon as I got it confirmed, I was like, ‘Yo.
..’ The idea hit me instantly: ‘You got to go to that date,’” West once told .