J. Cole’s latest offering isn’t what you’d expect, but it is ‘Inevitable.’ A raw and reflective limited audio series set to take listeners on an unfiltered voyage through the rapper’s life, career, and personal evolution is now streaming.
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Through various recorded conversations with his right hand Ibrahim Hamad and filmmaker Scott Lazer, and featuring both released and unreleased music to guide the story. Season 1 of Inevitable “finds Cole recounting his journey from his early days as a young, aspiring rapper to finally seeing his dreams become a reality, despite the many hurdles and pitfalls he faces along the way.
The North Carolina rapper announced the new projects arrival by sharing a trailer and lengthy caption on IG. “It’s hard to write a caption to describe what this is,” Cole began. “I really don’t even know what to call it. We settled on calling it an ‘audio series’ but to me it plays like a movie in the form of a conversation. First, me and Ib spent mad days talking to Scott, recapping the whole journey up to present day. Front to back. It was new, it was fun, it was emotional and more than anything, it was therapeutic.”
Continuing to elaborate, Cole added, “After that Scott took the conversation and did his thing with it… then it was time to listen back. When I heard it with fresh ears, I was glued to the story as if it was somebody else’s. At times I could feel my adrenaline rush when hearing about the ups and the many downs and how it all played out in the end.”
Cole continued on, sharing how the process has given him a renewed perspective, writing, “I got so much clarity from it, and I understood more than ever the power of having a dream, the power of fueling that dream with strong vision, the magic that happens when we stay in alignment with God, and the darkness that can come in the times that we don’t.”
Also talking about developing a reclusive nature over the years, particularly when it comes to interviews and social media. Cole admitted, “As the years of my career grew I found myself much more hesitant to share details of my life with the world.” Adding, “Even as I type this, I feel the last little bit of resistance. ‘You sure you want to do this?’ But if I was a younger version of myself, I know that I would get so much fuel from hearing this from somebody that went for theirs and ‘made it.’ For that reason, I think it’s worth sharing.”
“So, if you rocked with me at any point so far on my journey, I hope this will give you even more perspective and fill in a lot of blanks,” Cole began to conclude. Sharing his hopes are that this new audio series will inspire people to continue chasing the things that they’re passionate about. Saying, “If you have your own dream in life that you hope to achieve, in any field, I hope that this will feed your spirit, giving you confidence to believe in that dream and the encouragement to push through the tough times. To go for it even when you may be afraid to.”
Season 1 of Inevitable will be available beginning November 18 at 6PM ET, with a new episode dropping every week. Get access to the series — HERE.
In other, but also related J. Cole news, the rapper surprised fans by releasing his debut mixtape The Come Up Mixtape, Vol. 1 on streaming services for the first time since its arrival back in May 2007.
The project, which boasts 17 tracks, including early Cole World fan favorites like “School Daze,” “Simba” and “Dollar and a Dream,” getting the streaming service treatment, has the internet guessing as to why. With many determined it has to do with J. Cole reminiscing about his career, with the release of his Inevitable audio series. Episode one is fittingly titled The Come Up after all — so that checks.
Listen to The Come Up Mixtape, Vol. 1 below.