Jermaine Cole has registered himself as one of the most talented rappers in the history of the United States with his great storytelling prowess. The rapper, singer, and record producer with the stage name J. Cole, was born on the 28th day of January 1985 in a military base in Frankfurt Germany to an African-American US Army veteran and a European-American mother who was a postal worker J.for USPS. Jermaine moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina alongside his mother and older brother when he was just 8 months old. In this article, you are going to find out the 8 best-selling songs by J. Cole and how much he has earned with them.
No Role Modelz
This hit single is one of J. Cole’s greatest hits! No Role Modelz is from his third studio album,2014 Forest Hills Drive which dropped in 2015. In this single, Jermaine sampled Project Pat’s “Don't Save Her”. Produced by Phonic beats and J. Cole himself, this song is the highest-charting single from the 2014 album and the most-streamed single off the album. In December 2015, No Role Modelz peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was officially given the platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in May 2016. Between 2015 and 2016 alone, No Role Modelz peaked at number 14 on the IS Rhythmic Billboard, number 27 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs billboard, and number 62 on the Canadian Hot 100. Isn’t that stunning?
Wet Dreamz
Released in April 2015, this song is the second song off J.Cole’s third studio album, 2014 Forest Hill Drive which is filled with hits. Sampling Family Circle’s Mariya and The Honey Drippers' Impeach The President, and Wet Dreamz tells the story of how young Jermaine lost his virginity to a math classmate to whom he had initially lied that he wasn’t a virgin. This particular single was originally intended to be dropped with his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story but due to reasons best known to Cole, he delayed the production and later released it with his 2014 album. Wet Dreamz was produced by Jermaine himself and by 2016, it was certified platinum by RIAA. Since its release, this track has amassed lots of certifications and has sold millions of copies worldwide.
Middle Child
Middle Child is the first single off Dreamville’s 2019 compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers. This track was released in January 2019 through Dreamville Records, Interscope Records, and Roc Nation. Written by Jermaine, T-Minus, Norman Harris, and Allan Felder and produced by J.Cole and T-Minus, Middle Child paints a picture of Cole being between two generations of hip-hop (the old and the new) which makes him the middle child. In this track, J. Cole sampled Wake Up to Me which was written by Allan Felder and Norman Harris and performed by First Choice. Middle Child peaked at number 1 on the US Rhythmic Billboard, 2 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard, and 4 on the US and Canada Billboard Hot 100. Wow!
Work Out
This is a significant song in Cole’s career. Why? Good question! We’ll get to that! Work out was released in June 2011 and is the first single off Jermaine’s debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story. This track was a hit and garnered positive reviews but someone wasn’t cool with it, someone Cole really respected. Nas felt the track is not really who J. Cole is and was just made for the charts. This got to Cole who would later make a song titled Let Nas Down to talk about how he felt. Workout peaked at number 1 on the US Rhythmic Billboard, 10 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard, and 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100
Power Trip
Released in February 2013, this track, produced by Cole himself, is a banger! Power Trip is the first track of his 2013 album, Born Sinner. J. Cole featured Miguel on this track and sampled Hubert Laws’ song, No More. Power Trip peaked at number 4 on the US Rhythmic Billboard, 5 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Billboard, and 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Like the others in this list, Power Trip was also certified platinum by RIAA with millions of copies sold worldwide.
Deja Vu
Deja Vu is the lead single off Cole’s 2017 album, 4 Your Eyes Only. It was written by Jermaine himself and was produced by Vinylz, Boy-1da, Velous, Cole himself, and Ron Gilmour. Being one of J. Cole’s highest-charting songs, Deja Vu peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It went ahead to be certified 2x platinum by RIAA.
G.O.M.D
An acronym for the title “Get Off My Dick”, this track which is from his third studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive interpolates Lil Jon’s Get Low and also samples Branford Marsalis’ Berta, Berta. This song has 3x platinum certification from RIAA having sold more than 3 million copies in the US alone.
Neighbors
The last song on this list, Neighbors was written and produced by J.Cole himself and is part of his fourth album 4 Your Eyez Only, which was dropped in 2017. This expository track peaked at number 13 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and was certified 3x platinum in the United States.
Sources: Officialcharts, Pitchfork, Dreamville