J Cole writes a letter in support of Lil Durk before his upcoming trial “To the Honorable Judge Fitzgerald, I hope this letter reaches you in good spirits. My name is Jermaine Cole, professionally, I’m a musician known by my stage name, J. Cole. With respect to your time, I will keep my back story brief. I’m from Fayetteville, North Carolina and moved to New York City at 18 years old to attend college while also pursuing grand musical ambitions. Fast forward many years later now and I’m happy to say I have been blessed with an incredibly fruitful career, and as I write you this letter I’m currently on tour in Europe as part of a much larger world tour for my latest album. I consider myself the “middle child” of hip hop; meaning I’m young enough to look up to so many legendary artists who have come before me and paved the way (Tupac Shakur, Nas, Jay-Z, Outkast, Kanye West and many others), but I also reached an age and status where I would regularly receive high levels of respect and admiration from the younger generation of artists that were beginning to have success after me. In this industry, I know what it’s like to feel like a little brother as well as a big brother, so to speak. Durk Banks is an artist who is in the hip hop generation that came directly after mine. My little brothers. I was aware of his art and his success, and we had connected at some point over the years, but it wasn’t until we got to work together that I got to know him on a more substantial level. The first thing I noticed was his demeanor. Always extremely respectful, and he often would check in randomly on my well being. One day, he sent a song that he was developing and asked me if I would be willing to be a part of it. The song was called “All My Life.” It was an extremely positive song, with a very uplifting chorus sung by a group of children. A song about overcoming life’s toughest circumstances and refusing to let them stop you. Although I could tell this was a great song, I was hesitant to be a part of it. Because my lyrical content is assumed to be a bit more “conscious” or “thoughtful,” artists will often send me a song they have that fits into that mold and ask me to be on it. When this happens, I always decline and ask for a different song option, because as an artist, it’s way more exciting and challenging for me to create something in THEIR world, as opposed to doing something I already know I can do. I called Durk and told him this exact thing, “Bro, please send me another option! This song is great! But it’s so positive, it’s too obvious for me.” I was hoping he would agree with me and send me another option that was way more raw and street, something that would be more challenging for me to shine on. But instead of agreeing with me, he doubled down on his ask and explained to me why this song was so important to him. He explained that he envisioned himself promoting a different message to the world, and more importantly to the kids. He wanted to push a message of change and of peace and of growth and maturity, and he thought that if I got on this song with him it would have the greatest impact. When he broke it down to me like that, all I could do was respect it. I told him I would give it a try. After patiently waiting a couple months, he received the feature verse from me and released the song and video. It went on to have incredible success. I’m not a person that puts much into numbers or awards, but for the sake of the story, this song is currently 4X platinum and won a Grammy, the first for Durk. But beyond any commercial success or accolades, please allow me to share this story, which has far more importance. While my tour stopped in Cleveland a few months ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Juvenile Detention Center of Cleveland. I got a chance to meet every single kid in that facility, all of which were coming from tough upbringings”