J. Cole recently particiapted in an "Ask Me Anything" question session hosted by the online community sharing system Reddit. One of the main topics addressed was how the North Carolina emcee landed a cameo in Dave Chappelle's 2005 documentary 'Dave Chappelle's Block Party.' Cole can be seen in the audience of the concert throughout the film. He responded in earnest.
"Long story short (aka this is gonna be long) I heard about this secret Dave Chapelle concert, you had to register and sign up online to go," Cole responded. "The Roots, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Mos Def, Kweli, Kanye, Dead Prez. They sent me confirmation back and it was on. Took my homeboy and roommate with me. [sic] BUT. Woke up that morning at 6 am to leave, and it was POURING. Some Hurricane level shit. We looked at each other like, 'damn dawg, we really gonna do this?' Said fuck it and got dressed. Had to walk to the bus stop in the rain, then wait on the bus in the rain. Now we're Soaked. Hopped off the bus, hopped on the train. Took the train to the bottom of Manhattan to the secret 'Meet Up' point. Some random Grocery store by the Water. We were the first ones there. People showed up over the next couple of hours. Then finally, they put us all on these yellow school buses to take us to the real secret concert location. A random block in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn."
Cole remembers it all fondly. "Best show I ever been to in my life. Fugees reunited on stage, Lauryn Hill was incredible. Plus the line up was crazy. I was just a fan of this shit. still am Then you could see me on the movie, everybody was hitting me from back home like 'YOOO HOW THE FUCK YOU GET IN THIS MOVIE?? I'M IN THE THEATRE NOW I SWEAR I JUST SEEN YOU.'"
Cole was also asked why he chose to compete with Kanye West by choosing to release Born Sinner on the same day as Yeezus.
"I just followed my instincts," he responded. "I was confident in the album I had. Didn't know what he had, but didn't care. Wanted to start the conversation. I've had a #1 album before. It's cool. But I wouldn't have been able to live with myself wondering 'what if I would have moved my date?'"
Word. Read the AMA in its entirety here.
