to free huey, J.cole came out with his first mixtrape in 07, he didnt get signed or recognized till summer of 09 B. drake blew up with "best i ever had" and the SFG mixtape while nicki had her mixtape out n she got signed around the same time, i know this because i remember that summer very well, it was one of the best summers i ever had. so ur argument is irrelevant. and the fact that drake had "best i ever had" and "successful" as singles and they were both huge hits kinda gives him the edge and nicki minaj had hits as well where as J.cole didnt and he really only has a college and internet fanbase but because he spits lyrical and real music (noone can argue this) it relates to the people and the people belived in something greater then a hit single or being on top. J.cole is an aritsit and hes here to stay he has over 90 songs but with one album out, give him tiem hes a rookie, why u wanna see him fail so bad? J.cole, Drake, Kendrick, KRITWale, Stalley (i think), Jay elcetronica (hopefully), Mac Miller, nicki, lil wayne (already has it on lock), are the future of this rap shit, and we are in a totally new generation, TV and radio doesnt run everything anymore, sure it gets u a great amount of exposure but the internet, blogs, word of mouth, talkin real shit, and touring gets u the bit of edge.
hes here to stay. Hip hop aint dead, u just gotta know where to look, the internet IS the streets we the ones who dictate whos gettin on n whos not, thats why the XXL looks up to forums n blogs for what WE think. n J.cole is the next heavyweight in the game........n he did it with no singles, i cant stress that enuff