Aug. 6
J. Cole is hip-hop's kind of reclusive, not-so-silent assassin. The Fayetteville, North Carolina rapper rose to prominence upon the release of his second mixtape “The Warm Up” in 2009—a transformative year for Cole, as he would also appear on Jay-Z's “Blueprint 3” album. While for most that would seem to be enough, Cole would also make appearances on Wale's debut album and would go on to work with the likes of No I.D., Diddy, Drake, and Miguel. In addition to other projects, he put out his debut album “Cole World: Sideline Story,” which was certified gold, but some fans thought it wasn't his best work. Cole seemed to let that narrative fuel his next few projects. Since then J. Cole has released three platinum albums in “Born Sinner,” “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” and “4 Your Eyez Only.”—the latter two went platinum with no features. That feat is something that hasn't been done since the 90's and something his fans won't allow anyone to forget on social media, and rightfully so. With his immense success in the last eight years, J. Cole still does all of this under the radar. 8 p.m., Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St., (410) 347-2020, royafarmsarena.com, $26-$350. (Reginald Thomas II)
