J. Cole Says Jay-Z Supported Album Release

[HipHopBlog]

''He Just Respected It'' 6:00AM ET June 18th, 2013 Contributor : Chris G. A Rocky Williform Company With the hype surrounding J. Cole's new Born Sinner album being released on the same day as Kanye West's new Yeezus album, there was plenty of speculation that the two Jay-Z affiliated rappers were pitted against each other by Jay himself. But Roc Nation star J. Cole says that Jay didn't mastermind the competition. "He just respected it," J. Cole told DJ Drama. "He thought it was like courageous. He thought it was a brave move. That was it. He wasn't pitting me against him like, 'Yeah, let me get my two artists [to release albums on the same day].' Nah. He was just like, 'Yo. That's brave. You can't lose,' is what he was saying. Nobody even expects me to really win that day, in terms of sales, and that's not really what it was about to begin with. It was about putting my name in the hat in terms of the music. You might have to make a decision. You might love both. You might love his. You might hate my album, but you're not going to. But it's forcing you to make a decision on which album [you're going to prefer]. I'm just putting my name in the hat. That's it."