J.Cole’s 2017 is off to a great start.
Just a few weeks before his 32nd earth strong, the rapper’s latest album 4 Your Eyez Only has surpassed 500,000 in sales, claiming gold status. The RIAA announced the news via Twitter Thursday (Jan. 11). Cole’s streak is familiar to all of us, as the “platinum with no features” mantra developed in 2016 when his 2014 Forest Hills Drive hit platinum status just two months after its release. His debut album, Cole Word: The Sideline Story went platinum in under three months while Born Sinner hit a million units in a similar fashion.
#4youreyezonly is the only 2016 4th quarter Hip/Hop album release to earn @RIAA certification, @JColeNC! @Dreamville @RocNation ? pic.twitter.com/T8Qb2SPhxi
— RIAA (@RIAA) January 12, 2017
Something tells us this won’t be the only project we’ll jam to by the Dreamville King this year. Rumors have continued to linger about his joint project with Kendrick Lamar and Cole’s manager has teased fans on Twitter about what’s to come from the label in 2017. After a few retweets of praises for Dreamville acts like Cole, Bas and Ari Lennox, Ibrahim ‘Ib’ Hamad assured fans, “It’s only going to get better.”
Speaking with Billboard, Ib says Cole’s fans understand the rapper’s message, which is why his reach is so admirable. “He’s not speaking about something that’s so outrageous that nobody understands,” he said. “He’s talking about things that the average person, whether it’s me, his friends or his fans, understand. It makes them feel like, “Damn, I guess if I could write, rap, and I knew a way to say it, I would say it that way.” I’m his manager, but as a fan, that’s how I feel.”
Congrats to a real one.