During a sit-down interview with Golden State Warriors Bob Myers on ESPN, J. Cole looked back on one of the “stupidest” things he has done in his childhood and shared how it became a “life-changing” moment.
“At six years old, I was smoking cigarettes regularly around the neighborhood,” he revealed. “I was always hanging around the older kids in the neighborhood that [my older brother] was hanging around, and they were smoking,” Cole said. “And I was young and fearless and trying to be cool. So, it was like, ‘Oh, y’all smoking. Like, let me see that.’ And, of course, we’re all out there kinda [with] young parents, with long leashes.”
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He continued, “to them…it’s funny. They’re 10 themselves. So, it’s funny for them. Nobody’s really worried about me. Nobody is like, ‘Hey! Don’t do that.’ They’re 10 and smoking cigarettes.” Cole said he kept smoking at that age for two or three weeks but his little hobby came to an end after this happened:
“20 minutes later, my brother walks back to the backyard where we was at. ‘Jermaine!’ He’s like, ‘Mom wants to see you.’ So I’m walking home, no fear. No worry at all,” he continued, coming to the conclusion of this pivotal moment. “I saw her face. When she smelled cigarettes on my breath, her face was heartbroken. It was disbelief. It was like, crushed. I remember the look on her face and she was like, ‘You have been smoking.’ It like hit her.”
He continued, “The reason why I think that was a life-changing moment, where after that I didn’t need much correction—I became a self-corrector—is because that was the first time I became aware that, ‘Oh, my actions can hurt someone else,’” he said.
Speaking more about life and what he’s learned Cole shared some advice to kids, “I think my wish and my hope is I just want you to cut down the time that it took me—the thing that I learned at 30, I hope you can learn at 15 or 16. I just want you to be able to learn the lessons that can lead you to peace quicker.”
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The rapper is usually quiet and very private which is why this latest interview comes as a slight shock to fans. Here’s how some are reacting to his revelation:
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