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J. Cole stunned the world when he announced he was pushing up the release date of his sophomore album, Born Sinner, to compete with Kanye West

Originally, Born Sinner was set to drop on June 25, which would have put J. Cole in direct competition with D.C. rapper Wale’s third album The Gifted

Deciding that he wanted a challenge, J. Cole maintains it was a no brainer to align himself alongside Kanye West. 

During an interview with Billboard’s The Juice, J. Cole explained why he moved up his release date to June 18, stating: 

“Kanye West is one of the greatest artists of our generation. Which is exactly why I’m moving my release date up. Once he saw Kanye’s tweet about the June 18 date, he knew what he had to do. “Instantly the lightbulb [turned on]… it got real. I made one phone call to somebody that would know, just to make sure first. As soon as I got it confirmed, I was like, ‘Yo…’ The idea hit me instantly: ‘You got to go to that date.’ I’m not going to sit [here]… I worked too hard to come a week later after Kanye West drops an amazing album. It’d be like, ‘Oh and J. Cole dropped too, a week later.’ Nah. I’m going to go see him on that date. He’s the greatest. So it’s like, I’m a competitor by nature so it was instant, it wasn’t even a thought.” 

J.Cole’s sophomore album, Born Sinner, will be on store shelves right next to Kanye West’s Yeezus on June 18. 

What are your thoughts on J.Cole moving up his release date to compete with Kanye? 

Let us know below!