S. Samuel
Roc Nation's J. Cole recently discussed how touring with rap mogul Jay-Z has improved his on-stage performance skills.
According to Cole, Hov helped him attain a certain amount of confidence when performing in front of more than 20,000 fans.
“As the tour went on, I got way more comfortable, I learned a lot about doing shows and why Jay-Z is able to do shows,” Cole told radio personality DJ Whoo Kid. “I learned pretty much from him that confidence is everything. If you feel like you deserve to be up there, which of course he does, he feels like that, it shows and all the minor stuff you used to worry about like what kind of hand movements am I supposed to do, all that goes out the window when you got the confidence like ‘Yo, I deserve to be up there, people came to see me.’ So it’s really treating it like that. I used to worry about performing like, ‘Ah man, I’m trying to please every side of the crowd,’ like make sure they gettin’ love, they gettin’ love, Jay just plays wherever he wants. If he wants to play the center for the whole verse, he’ll do that. And all that comes from confidence, when you feel you deserve to be up there.” (Shade 45)
Earlier this year, Jay said he has continued to perfect his on-stage presence.
“I’ve been working on my live show for 10 years now, just trying to get it better and better. I used to come out with just a DJ, now I got a band. The production’s gotten bigger and the lighting guy takes off his shoes and he plays to the beat,” he laughs. “The whole thing is being upgraded every single year.” (Rap-Up)
Last month, Cole talked about putting together his forthcoming Roc Nation debut album.
“I’m in with No I.D. right now. He’s incredible. It’s fun,” Cole said about his album’s production. “My favorite producer, after I started producing [and] paying attention to producers, was Kanye…Being in with No I.D. last night and watching him work, it was like, ‘Duh.’ I been in with other producers, it don’t click. It don’t connect. It connects with him. I figure if I grew up looking up to Kanye, Kanye is cut from the No ID cloth.” (MTV)
Cole also recently hinted at an upcoming collaboration track with Pharrell Williams.
“Ah man, Pharrell, that was incredible man,” Cole said about working with the producer. “I think he just got named producer of the decade by Billboard and I just read that today, so, even when I read it I was like ‘D*mn, I was just in the studio with this dude,’ so it’s kinda an honor to get some of his time like that and we came out of it with some good material, the song I really like.” (One Neck, Two Chains)
Check out J. Cole’s interview below:
