Should J. Cole Win ‘Artist Of The Year’ At The BET Hip Hop Awards?
“Hip Hop Artist of The Year” is arguably the most coveted award at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
The honor goes to the artist who has had the biggest impact in the genre over the past year — an MVP of sorts — and customarily brings forth a winner who ends up being the biggest name in hip hop and in music as a whole.
Last year Megan Thee Stallion took home the honor, following Cardi B in 2019, but this year the competition is tight as ever as it’s been one of the best years in hip hop.
From Megan’s Good News album and Tyler, The Creator’s DJ Drama hosted Call Me If You Get Lost, to Cardi B, Drake and Lil Baby occupying timelines everywhere both for music and business reasons, it’s truly too close to call.
One thing’s for sure, however, and it’s that J. Cole certainly should be more a part of the conversation. This year he’s sneakily had just as dominant a year as his more talked about nominees.
As the 2021 BET Hip Hop Awards near, here is a look at all the “No Role Modelz” rapper
Sixth Straight No. 1 Albums
When J. Cole dropped his sixth studio album, The Off-Season, in May, it not only opened at No. 1 at 282,000 units, the feat made it Cole's sixth consecutive no. 1 album. Yeah, you heard that right — six in a row.
His debut, Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011) went No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with a total of 218,000 copies in its first release. The same was the case in 2013 with his sophomore effort Born Sinner, which totaled 282,000 units its first week. Carolina’s native son went on to do it again in 2014 with Forest Hills Drive, which opened at No. 1, selling 353,000 copies, in 2016 with 4 Your Eyez Only, that went on to sell 363,000 copies in its first week and KOD in 2018 effort debuted at No. 1 with 397,000 copies — his highest-selling album so far — with almost half of the total coming from pure sales,
When marveling at the other artists’ releases, which most likely went number one as well, remember, for Cole, it’s customary.
Top 10 Selling Hip Hop Album of The Year
The over-saturation of hip hop makes it easy to gloss over albums but Cole’s The Off-Season is not one of those bodies of work that came and went.
Out of all of the top-performing rap albums in 2021, J. Cole ranks in the top 10, along with Pop Smoke, Lil Baby, Doja Cat, Moneybagg Yo, Juice Wrld, Lil Durk and Rod Wave, according to a chart from Hits Daily Double.
Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t, and, regardless of the chatter, these show that Cole’s project remains one of the most successful since its release.
Two days after dropping his highly anticipated album, J. Cole decided tomake a professional basketball team. The Basketball Africa League’s Patriots Basketball Club in Rwanda to be exact, fulfilling a longtime aspiration of playing ball professionally.
The 36-year-old registered three points, three rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes of action in his debut.
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Politically Conscious
Cole’s political and social consciousness has always been a staple of his work, going back to the Dollar And ADream Tour, where he sold concert tickets for a buck, to his scathing “False Prophets:freestyle calling out the so-called leaders of the industry.
While Lil Baby ended up taking home the award, Cole’s nomination for his single, “Snow on the Bluff” last year was more than a deserving consideration as he addresses racism, activism, organizing, social media, police brutality, his celebrity status, and much more.
Similarly, in “The Climb Back” on The Off Season, Cole speaks against violence, continuing to use his platform for the better.
Further confirming J. Cole’s impact in 2021, his 2013 Song “She Knows” had a resurgence thanks to a TikTok Trend.
The near-vintage favorite featuring Amber Coffman and Cults from the 2013 album Born Sinner, has, per stats shared by TikTok, inspired more than 230,000 creations on the platform.
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