J. Cole

J. Cole is the Grammy-winning rapper and producer with an incredible legacy. Coming to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro on 26th October 2026.

From starting out as the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to releasing the platinum, no-features album 2014 Forest Hills Drive and ultimately founding his own label Dreamville, J. Cole has forged a global reputation for spearheading a more thoughtful take on the rap genre.

With a backstory atypical of most city-hardened rappers, Jermaine Cole was born in Germany to an American G.I. father and a German mother, before returning to the US to grow up on a military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina. After building a following through early mixtapes and signing to Roc Nation in 2009, J. Cole released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011) which debuted at No.1 on the strength of its polished, radio-ready singles like ‘Work Out’, with its boom-bap refrain, and the soulful, sample-driven ‘Can’t Get Enough’. Its 2013 follow-up, Born Sinner, featured hits such as ‘Power Trip’ as well as various guest appearances from Miguel, TLC, Kendrick Lamar and more.

Retiring his pop-leaning formulas, Cole soon turned to more contemplative, socially conscious writing, beginning with 2014 Forest Hills Drive. A hometown meditation on ambition and the cost of success, the album’s standouts, the cautionary ‘No Role Modelz’ and ‘Wet Dreamz’, paired sparse beats with mature subject matter. That direction deepened on 4 Your Eyez Only (2016) and the addiction-focused KOD (2018), which covered somber themes of nostalgia, racial inequality and materialism, while continuing to top the charts. KOD in particular made history by placing six songs in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 20 at once, a record previously only held by The Beatles in 1964. By the time The Off-Season arrived in 2021, Cole had emerged with a renewed focus on masterful production practices, whilst still retaining a nostalgic ‘mixtape’ feel. 

Beyond his releases, Cole has diligently built an enduring legacy through his label Dreamville Records and its affiliated charitable foundation, nurturing artists such as JID, Bas and EarthGang while supporting youth and community projects in North Carolina.These values are just as evident on stage, where his long-running ‘Dollar and a Dream’ shows see Cole announce secret venues on the day and charge just a dollar for entry, reviving early mixtape tracks for first-come crowds.The gesture has become emblematic of his live ethos, modest, intimate and fan-first, where technical precision and audience rapport outweigh spectacle.

Now, with his seventh and purportedly final studio album The Fall-Off (a project more than a decade in the making) finally on the horizon, J. Cole is primed for his first headlining world tour since the 4 Your Eyez Only run in 2017, titled J. Cole: The Fall-Off Tour.