J. Cole Reveals He Started Smoking Cigarettes Regularly At 6 Years Old: ‘I Was Young & Fearless & Trying To Be Cool’

J. Cole

J. Cole Reveals He Started Smoking Cigarettes Regularly At 6 Years Old: ‘I Was Young & Fearless & Trying To Be Cool’

Rapper J. Cole recently revealed he started smoking cigarettes regularly at the age of 6.

In a new interview with ESPN, J. Cole (real name Jermaine Cole) reportedly sat down to discuss his childhood, rap career, and future. During the conversation, the North Carolina native admitted he was exposed to cigarettes as a child and picked up a smoking habit before he even hit puberty.

J. Cole

The “Middle Child” rapper recalled,

“At 6 years old, I was smoking cigarettes regularly around the neighborhood. I was always hanging around the older kids in the neighborhood that [my older brother] was hanging around and they were smoking. And I was young and fearless and trying to be cool. So, it was like, ‘Oh, y’all smoking. Let me see that.’”

J. Cole explained to the interviewer that his mother allowed him to roam the streets as she did when she was younger, though she wasn’t entirely aware of what he was up to at the time. He went on,

“And, of course, we’re all out there [with] young parents, long leashes. Not that [my mom] knew I was doing this.”

The record producer said that he would hang around his older brother’s friends, trying to find a way to fit in. Cole continued,

“To them, it’s funny. They’re 10 themselves. So, it’s funny for them. Nobody’s really worried about me. They’re 10 and smoking cigarettes. This is going on for two-three weeks. One day, I’m down the street at a house where it was happening at and my brother comes up and I asked one of our homeboys in the neighborhood, “Yo, You got any cigarettes?’”

J. Cole

The rapper then shared that he smoked cigarettes until his older brother ultimately told their mother, who later confronted Cole and was devastated after learning the truth.

“This was literally a life-changing moment. When she smelled cigarettes on my breath, her face was like, it was heartbroken, it was disbelief, it was like crushed. I remember the look on her face. She was like, ‘You have been smoking.’”

He added,

“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.’”

On the music side of things, Cole is reportedly working on the follow-up to his 2021 album “The Off-Season.”

As previously reported, the 38-year-old musician cleared his entire Instagram page earlier this year. Artists often use this tactic to suggest new music is coming.

It’s been roughly two years since the release of Cole’s latest album, “The Off Season,” which dropped on May 14, 2021. The project reportedly topped the US Billboard 200 and sold 282,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, earning Cole his sixth consecutive number-one album in the country. At the time of its release, “The Off-Season” achieved the largest streaming week of 2021, accumulating over 325.5 million streams. The album scored a nomination for Best Rap Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards.

What are your thoughts on what J. Cole shared? Leave a comment below!

[Sources: 1, 2]