J. Cole Quotes That Are raps, reflects and relatable

I seen a baby cry seconds later he laughs... the beauty of life, the pain never lasts.

You are perfect exactly as you are. With all your flaws and problems, there's no need to change anything. All you need to change is the thought that you aren't good enough.

To appreciate the sun you gotta know what rain is.

I gotta make a move, I gotta do this now, If they don't know your dreams, they can't shoot 'em down.

Keep grindin' boy, your life can change in one year, And even when it's dark out, the sun is shining somewhere

We got dreams and we got the right to chase 'em, Look at the nation, that's a crooked smile braces couldn't even straighten.

No need to fix what God already put his paint brush on

One thing you should know about me is I never play to lose, Always aim high and rarely obey the rules.

Either you play the game or let the game play you and be that broke sucka talkin bout I stayed true

Believe in God like the sun up in the sky, see science can tell us how but it can't tell us why. I seen a baby cry then seconds later she laughed, the beauty of life the pain never lasts.

Promise to my momma I'ma make it to the Top.. So I'ma keep climbing til my heartbeat drop

I'll be dammed if I sit around another year, Dreamin' dreams hopin' somehow that they just appear.

Don't worry, Even Jesus never saw his real father

My real dream is to have a whole, like, buy a whole piece of land.

Imagine, like, a long driveway. Like, a cul de sac-type street, with maybe, like, seven houses. Me be right here. Have my mom be able to be right here. My brother over here. My girl's grandmother and family right here. Friends over there. That's my real dream.

So ahead of my time even when i rhyme about the future I be reminiscing

I'ma be here for a while. None of these clowns can hurt me.

I'm already hot, you could say I'm pre-heated. If money talks, mine's telling your's to 'be seated

History repeats itself and that's just how it goes.

I yearn for that livin' large, but mama I ain't done yet/Sit back and watch your son rise, kick back and know your son set

I feel like relationships are a beautiful thing, period.

Relationships can be really beautiful, they can be really hard, they can be really rewarding, or they can be bad relationships where it's really detrimental and hurtful, but that's life, period.

While silly ni**as argue over who gon' snatch the crown / Look around my ni**a, white people have snatched the sound / This year I'll probably go to the awards dappered down / Watch Iggy win a Grammy as I try to crack a smile.

Sold my soul to Satan. I've been dancing with the devil. So when you get to hell you can say you know me. I'm easily attracted by the dark side. Devil keep following.

I'm a super-duper over-analyzer. You mix that with self-doubt and pressure, and that's never healthy.

Barack Obama would not be President if he were dark skin.

You know what I mean? That's just the truth. I might not be as successful as I am now if I was dark skin.

Get on yo job little man this ain't Saturday

In my mind, New York was the place where they had the underground rap shows and I could get in on some ciphers and just rap. This whole fantasy world I had created in my head about New York just from listening to the music my whole life, like, I'ma go up there and do that. But when I came up here, there was none of that, that scene was dead.

There was the time I bought three cars in the span of three or four weeks. It was crazy; it wasn't greedy. It was mine, my girl's, my mom's. I got Benzes for my ladies. But I felt crazy. You have to understand I come from a world where we're very modest. But that's not greedy. That's nice, right?

One day, I'll be listening to a bunch of Ray Charles, the next day it's nothing but Red Hot Chili Peppers. The next day it might be Tupac all day.

Tupac was just so passionate about what he believes in and not afraid to say anything.

Yeah school girl, cool girl. Your dress is sexy and your momma is a cougar.

Even my momma asked what I'mma do. Decisions, decisions/ In case this is war, then I load up on all ammunition/ If a n----a want problems, my trigger's on auto.

I'm not gonna be bad at anything, and I want to actually be the best at anything I'm doing. So if I'm playing basketball, if I'm taking the SATs, like, there's a competitive spirit behind it. With production, it's the same thing.

Far from the richest rapper, but my biggest personal achievement thus far in my life has been retiring my mom early from her job at the Post Office. It's a tiny payback for the sacrifices she made that allowed me to chase a far-fetched dream of becoming a successful artist. I'm forever grateful.

My fans love me for me, my beats, my rhymes.

My parents were divorced by the time I was even conscious - like I don't remember them ever being together.

I was just a goofy little funny kid, who was always getting sent to the principal. It wasn't serious because I was smart. I wasn't like a true troublemaker, just rambunctious - like, talkative and trying to be funny. That was me in middle-school.

I want people to follow their dreams, yes but I'm not interested in telling young black kids how to be rappers I want to show them that there's so many other paths you can take, besides a rapper or basketball player.

I wish I studied more religions, I wish I read the Bible, the Quran. I think as I get older, I will start to really dive into religions, just because I feel like there's truths in all of those books. Clearly. I'm saying there's truths in all of them.

I pay attention to lyrics and I know what rap fans care about. I try to write for the average listener and I'm conscious of the mainstream without selling out.

I'm half-black, half-white, so I basically put it like this: I can fit in anywhere. That's why I write so many stories from so many different perspectives, because I've seen so many.

The music becomes more pure and soulful when it's true, and it has to be true these days with the way the internet works, and the way the game works, everyone wants authentic raps.

College had a great deal to do with my development as a person. I don't know if I'd be the artist I was if it wasn't for goin' to school like that. School is a good place - it ain't for everybody, but I think it's for most people.

School is a good place - it ain't for everybody, but I think it's for most people.

I want to be like Bruce Springsteen or something, making songs that are relevant.

I'm not a conscious rapper, all those things we talk about, the struggle, the pain, the outlook to the future, keep your head up. I try to put all those positive things into a regular human character, which is myself.

I don't like to think of it as being fired. Instead, I prefer to think of it as being on indefinite leave with a sabbatical flair.

Usually I start with a beat, I start making a beat, and my producer side is making the beat. And on a good day, my rapper side will jump in and start the writing process - maybe come up with a hook or start a verse. Sometimes it just happens like that. A song like 'Lights Please' happens like that.

I just feel like, with rappers, there's so much complacency. It's like, 'Oh, I'm a rapper. I'm successful. I make money. That's all that matters.' But there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. Whether or not you're aware of it, it's happening.

When you're headlining, people are paying to come see you specifically. It's a different kind of pressure, because you've got to deliver. You've got to give these people what they paid for. It's a different mind state, a different type of mentality, but it's honestly a pretty good problem to have, you know?