J. Cole’s Best Beats He Produced in His Career

Artistic expression can send you into a lot of different directions, helping you sharpen talents that you didn’t even know you had. Spurred early on after his mom bought him a production workstation as a kid, J. Cole began to loop samples and build beats of his own at age 15 after he was already rapping. Fast forward 20 years later and Cole is a rap superstar who has also produced most of his own songs.

It’s difficult to be a skilled and very famous rapper, but the responsibility of remaining a sharp producer makes things even tougher. Still, Cole has managed to stay engaged as an artist while continuing to make beats for himself and others. Through the years, J. Cole has had plenty of highs behind the boards.

At the beginning of his career, J. Cole produced almost all of his own music. On his 2009 mixtape, The Warm Up, he produced “Dollar and a Dream II,” a solemn, sample-based beat on which Cole shares his hope for the future of his career. This stripped-down, keyboard-driven style was one of the many tricks Cole had in his bag and it fit his style perfectly at the time. On “World Is Empty,” another song from the same project, Cole’s style has more of an upbeat, soul-sample influence, which only goes to show his versatility.

Even as his stock rose, Cole continued to produce for himself and other rappers around him, specifically those on his Dreamville Records label. Cole worked some vintage Kanye West-esque wizardry on Fabolous‘ “Louis Vuitton,” a track that seemed like an unusual pairing but actually ended up fitting together well. Years later, when Cole was working with the artists signed to his label, his style was totally different.

With the help of Ron Gilmore, J. Cole laced Bas on “Sanufa,” an African deep house-inspired cut. Cole also co-produced Ari Lennox‘s syrupy-sweet “Facetime,” a crawling tale about a long distance relationship carried out through video chat. Cole has the ability to work with different sounds and artists while doing so seamlessly. His talents behind the boards continue to evolve to this day, and that all comes down to his dedication to the craft.

Here are J. Cole’s best beats he produced in his career. Check out the list below, and look for your favorite J. Cole beat.