J Cole has surprised fans by confirming he has fathered two children in a new essay. The Middle Child rapper, who is notoriously priva...
J Cole has surprised fans by confirming he has fathered two children in a new essay.
The Middle Child rapper, who is notoriously private about his personal life, married wife Melissa Heholt five years ago and the couple share two sons.
In a lengthy essay for The Player’s Tribune titled The Audacity, the rapper revealed: ‘Four years have passed. ‘In that time I’ve been blessed with two sons, learned the delicate art of balance between parenthood and career, had the pleasure of working with a ton of talented artists as a featured rapper, spent 10 magical days recording a Dreamville album in Atlanta, and put a lot of time and energy into sharpening my sword and growing as an artist.’
J Cole, real name Jermaine Cole, was reflecting on the release of his 2016 album 4 Your Eyez Only, and said: ‘A couple weeks prior I learned that I would become a father. It wasn’t a surprise. I had been taking steps to change my life for the past couple years, and I felt ready.’
The rapper added that he wanted to make sure the album was completed ‘before the arrival of my first child’. Of course, he kept us in suspense over the names of his boys.
Also in the essay, J Cole hinted at his retirement plans and said his long-term goal was ‘becoming the best rapper I could possibly be before hanging up my jersey, leaving nothing on the table when all was said and done’.
After sharing the essay, the rapper tweeted: ‘This s**t was both hella challenging and mad fulfilling to write.’ The 35-year-old opened up about fatherhood in an interview with GQ earlier this month.
When asked how being a dad has changed him, J Cole explained: ‘For a while, I felt a little weird about it. Like, nah. I felt, “Did I miss something?” “Cause I didn’t feel the change that people talk about. And then I figured out what it was. ‘I changed my life in order to get ready to have a family and to have a son. I literally changed my life, where I was living, the things that I was doing. I changed. So because of that, when my son came, I was ready. I already made room.’
J Cole has subtly dropped hints about his family life through his music in recent years. On his Revenge of the Dreamers III album, released last year, he raps on the track Sacrifices: ‘She gave me the gift of my son, and plus we got one on the way. ‘She gave me a family to love, for that, I can never repay / I’m crying while writing these words, the tears, they feel good on my face.’
