Review: Rapper J. Cole gets love from sold-out Cotillion crowd

Grammy-nominated rapper J. Cole wanted to bring the early dates of his tour to towns that don’t ever get any “love,” he told the sold-out crowd of 1,850 gathered to see him Sunday night at the Cotillion. He instructed his managers to take him to those cities.

“I got the schedule, and I was like, ‘Wichita?’ ” he said. “Are you sure I’ll get love in Wichita?”

But they were right, said Cole, whose full name is Jermaine Lamarr Cole. And he was happy his schedule, which will take him to arenas including the Staples Center in Los Angeles throughout the rest of the year, brought him to the Cotillion, which he compared to a skating rink.

Cole, a 30-year-old rapper and record producer from Fayetteville, N.C., who is known for his socially conscious lyrics and his magna cum laude degree in communications from St. John’s University, drew a racially diverse crowd made up mostly of teens and people in their early 20s, as evidenced by the nonexistent line at the bar. (Also in attendance: Shocker basketball star Tekele Cotton, spotted shopping at the T-shirt stand.)

Accompanied just by a crew of three keyboardists and turntablists, Cole announced that he planned to perform his new album, “2014 Forest Hills Drive,” in its entirety, and that’s what he did. The crowd seemed to know most of the words to the songs from the album, which was released in December and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Charts.

Cole took the stage wearing a black T-shirt, and his fans crowded in front turned into a sea of hoisted cellphone cameras. It later turned into a sea of hopping, bouncing dancers.

Cole, whose rap isn’t hard core but is filled with melodies and samples, traveled through the beginning of the album in order, performing “Intro (2014 Forest Hills Drive,” “January 28th” and “Wet Dreamz.”

After a few more songs, he took a break to share the story of how he was discovered by Jay Z. Cole put out his mix tape, “The Come Up,” in 2007, and the rap star contacted him and eventually signed him to a record deal.

“All of you who follow me already know this story,” Cole said before interrupting his album progression to sing some of his older hits, including “Lights Please,” “In the Morning” and “Nobody’s Perfect” from his 2011 album “Cole’s World: The Sideline Story.”

He also got a big crowd reaction to “Apparently,” one of the first singles released from “2014 Forest Hills Drive.”

Toward the end of the show, Cole performed one of his biggest radio hits from “Cole’s World: The Sideline Story,” the song “Work Out,” which samples Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Review: Rapper J. Cole gets love from sold-out Cotillion crowd."