Apparently, this is an unreleased leftover from The Warm Up sessions. Why did it not end up on the tape? Hopefully, there’s a longer version.

J.Cole “The Good Son, Part I” (Unreleased Material)

ESPN RISE: The mental aspect is huge in basketball.
J. Cole: Oh without question! It’s so big. It’s funny because the day after our season was over in open gym was where I really learned my true talents. The pressure was off and I was just having fun and I was dominating. My coach was like “Where was all this during the season?” From that day through my junior year in college were probably the best basketball years of my life.

ESPN RISE: You graduated from St. John’s…did you win any intramurals titles there?
J. Cole: Aww man, we never won, but we got to the championship game three years and lost to this team that called themselves The Dynasty. That was for a reason…they were good!

ESPN RISE: We hear that you play pickup in the cities that you tour in.
J. Cole: Yeah, whenever I can I go and play. Now that I’m off the road I play a lot more. In the past two weeks I’ve probably played about six or seven times, which is pretty unheard of for me.

ESPN RISE: So with all that practice you’ve got to be looking pretty nice on the court?
J. Cole: Oh man! I’m feeling better than I’ve felt in a long time! I call myself a poor man’s Dwyane Wade because that’s how I play. I’m an in-the-flow type of player.

ESPN RISE: Wow, D Wade, huh? You got hops like him too?
J. Cole: (Laughs) Man, I’ve got the poor man hops. I get up every now and then though. I caught one last night as a matter of fact.

ESPN RISE: Is it weird to play with fans at the open runs?
J. Cole: Yeah I always have people who are like “Wow that’s J Cole!” And I think they probably don’t expect too much out of me on the court. So I really love to see their faces when I really go off and have a good game. I hate having an off night when fans are playing with me.

ESPN RISE: Do you follow hoops on all levels?
J. Cole: I can’t keep up with high school ball as much as I used to, but I keep people around me that keep me updated on that stuff. I do somewhat follow North Carolina and some NBA.

Source

The MTV News Hip-Hop Brain Trust got to arguing and compiled their picks for the stand out mixtape cuts of the year. Rappers including Jadakiss, Fabolous, J.Cole, Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Wale, Lloyd Banks, Waka Flocka, and more made made the list.

Rap-Up TV caught up with Keri Hilson last week in Los Angeles to discuss her sophomore album No Boys Allowed, starting with the first track. The blonde singer, wearing a No Boy sweatshirt, shared why she enlisted J. Cole for the Polow Da Don-produced “Buyou.” “What I hear is a very smart person when I listen to J. Cole,” said Keri. “He’s very intellectual and I knew that he would bring that side out of the record.”

A version of the song with Lil’ Kim in place of the Roc Nation MC previously leaked, but did not make the album. “[Kim] was basically just trying out a verse for Polow Da Don,” she explained. “I happened to love it, [but] having all boy features kinda took precedent over that whole thing happening.”

However, the door is still open for a remix. “In a perfect world, it would be Kim and Nicki Minaj on the same track,” revealed Miss Keri, who also weighed in on the Lil’ Kim vs. Nicki Minaj beef and Nicki’s rise to stardom. “I respect both of them,” she said of the rap rivals. “You can be inspired by so much in life and still carve out a lane for yourself, which I think Nicki has successfully done.”

After appearing alongside J. Cole this weekend in Toronto, Drake came out last night at Highline Ballroom in NYC to do “In The Morning” and “Up All Night”.

** 2010 MIXTAPE OF THE YEAR **

If not the best mixtape of the year, it’s easily one of the most anticipated mixtapes of 2010, even though the actual music shortly followed the mixtape’s announcement.

By now you probably know the drill: Representing Da Ville (Fayetteville, North Carolina) to the fullest, producer-slash-rapper J. Cole was the first artist signed to Jay-Z’s ROC NATION label and quickly became the hip-hop hopeful assigned to carry Jay’s torch in the game.

Not to say J. Cole was going to usurp Jay, but being the hip-hop hope and next-in-line at the label created by arguably the biggest hip-hop icon that ever lived was no small feat. After a monstrous sophomore mixtape (‘The Warm Up’) and a potent feature on Jay’s ‘Blueprint 3′, Cole released a stellar first single (“Who Dat”) and since then the rest was history — and sheer anticipation.

With a crisp, self-produced sound and lyrics that have drawn comparisons to Nas and Jay-Z’s, J. Cole is set to release easily one of 2011′s most anticipated albums. But before he released the yet-untitled rookie album, Cole wanted to hit the folks with something for a Cole Winter.

We present FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS — with all-original, and mostly self-produced records, J. Cole drops another classic mixtape for the people. Light on features (if that’s what you call cameos from Wale and Drake) and heavy on the vintage Golden Era hip-hop feel, FNL is exactly what the people been asking for: pure, uncut J. Cole.

J. Cole presents Friday Night Lights

In anticipation of Friday Night Lights, dropping Nov. 12. Jermaine let Herfection get a hold of a treat to hold us over. This will Not be featured on the 18/19 tracked FNL but enjoy until Friday

J. Cole “Purple Rain” (Prod. by J. Cole)

Drizzy is currently in town for the NYC leg of his ‘Lights Dreams & Nightmares’ Tour, and on the first show (of two) at Radio Music City Hall, he brought out light skinned Jermaine to perform his single “Who Dat.”

Nelly chopped it up with J. Cole in one of his first interviews since temporarily taking over hosting duties on St. Louis’ Hot 104.1 radio station.

Aside from expressing mutual admiration for one another, the Roc Nation rapper discussed the release date of his debut album (November/December), keeping the title under wraps, graduating from college, Jay-Z likely being the only guest on the album, his dream collaborations, Drake comparisons, and who he’s dating. Sorry ladies, he’s already taken.