1. J COLE This photo was taken as J Cole walked onto stage on October 8th, 2013 in Toronto, Ontario during his What Dream May Come tour

2. Want to listen? 3. - Jermaine Lamarr Cole (known as J Cole) was born January 28th, 1985 in Germany - He moved to Fayetville, North Carolina at a young age, and writes fondly of his hometown - He is a rap artist/songwriter/record producer that was signed to Jay-Zs label, Roc Nation in 2009 - He released his first mixtape The Come Up in 2007 and has been active ever sinceWho is He? 4. Discography The Come Up (2007) Mixtape The Warm Up (2009) Mixtape Friday Night Lights (2010) Mixtape Cole World: The Sideline Story (2011) First studio release (Roc Nation) Born Sinner (2013) Second studio release (Dreamville Records, Roc Nation) Revenge of the Dreamers (2014) Collaborative effort by artists of Dreamville Records 5. Awards and Significant NominationsIn the past four years, J Cole has been nominated for 36 awards, including: Best New Artist, Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album, MVP of the Year and many others At this point, he has won BET Hip-Hop Awards Best Mixtape for Cole World (2011) and Impact Track for Crooked Smile (2013) 6. Social Media Presence Compared to many of todays celebrities, J Coles social media presence (@JColeNC) is scarce For example: So far in 2013, J Cole has tweeted 7 times But, despite his limited time social media, his fans more than make up for it... @TeamDreamville, @TrueColeFam, @Dreamville, @DreamvilleFans, @TeamJColeNC are just a few of the fan accounts, that represent nearly 100 000 fans 7. Other Social Media www.dreamvillain.net/ www.jcolemusic.com www.colenation.com www.rocnation.com/artists/j-cole/ www.facebook.com/JColeMusic Verified J Cole Facebook www.youtube.com/jcolemusic Verified J Cole page www.facebook.com/JColeNation Fan page www.myspace.com/JCole http://flic.kr/ps/H3XXQ Instagram: @Dreamville, @TeamJColeNC, @RealColeWorld 8. EducationUnlike many rap artists, J Cole prioritized his education - J Cole graduated high school and attended St. Johns University in New York City on a scholarship - He majored Communications and minored in Business - In 2007, J Cole graduated with magna cum laude (with great honour) - From there, he continued to pursue his musical career 9. Cole values education and uses his status to encourage others to do the same (see tweets below), and also challenges his fans to think critically when it comes to evaluating what they see in media.... - 10. As a fan of J Cole, I feel pride in seeing how strong and caring the Dreamvillains are The hash-tag #ColeFam on Twitter is constantly in use, many of the users knowing and following one another and are genuinely interested in areas of their lives beyond J Cole Despite his tweets being few, J Cole makes sure his love for his fans is knownOnline Communities 11. Born Sinner (2013) was announced to be released June 25, but at the announcement of the release date Kanye Wests album, Yeezus, Cole moved his release date up one week, resulting in both rap albums being released on the same day. After the end of the first week, well known Kanye was ahead in sales... But, in the following weeks and months (when the world realized how significant this album was), J Cole pulled forward in sales and remains ahead The announcement and promotion of Born Sinner (2013) was done mostly through social media J Cole was also named one of Forbes Magazines 30 under 30 in January 2014! Article here: www.forbes.com/special-report/2014/30-under-30/music.htmlSuccess so Far 12. A Word from Cole... In true Cole fashion 13. Whats Next? On his birthday, J Cole announced a partnership between Dreamville Records and Interscope Records, who represents artists such as Lady Gaga, Imagine Dragons, Eminem, Ellie Goulding Needless to say, this is a big move in the right direction for a small record label... 14. On the night of his birthday, J Cole performed in Madison Square Gardens as a part of his What Dreams May Come tour. At that show, rap legend and owner of Roc Nation, came out and surprised J Cole with his very own Roc Nation diamond chain On the same night, J Cole released Revenge of the Dreams mixtape and on each seat of the audience, J Cole left a piece of paper explaining the partnership of Dreamville Records and Interscope Records, as well as a phone number...Cole World 15. ... And then this happened The number on the hand out (1 888 88 DREAM) was an active line directly to the Dreamville team... A lucky young woman was able to get through and spoke with Bas, who passed on a message to J Cole... The result was a message from J Cole, promising to be at the young womans graduation if shes accepted into university... 16. Worldwide... After the release of Born Sinner, Cole did a world tour (including US, Canada and Europe) titled What Dreams May Come with another Dreamville artist, Bas Though the tour only finished February 1st, Cole and his team are already onto the next big thing.... On February 15th, J Cole and Kendrick Lamar began an Australian tour with Eminem(!)As a fan, its so exciting to see where theyre going from here. You can guarantee that its going to be big! 17. 1. Find your audience I. Hes found em! From Day 1 fans, to new fans as a result of Born Sinner (2013), Coles got quite a few. He recently passed 4 million Twitter followers! 2. Post meaningful, shareable content I. Cole tweets about things close to his heart; he shares music, thanks fans for their loyalty, promotes education and shares important public events II. Hes not posting every time he has a thought, but rather posts when he feels an issue needs the attention of his fans 3. Engage your current fans I. Because of the rarity of his social media presence, J Coles fans pay attention when he is active 4. Continue the social push in real life I. J Cole does interviews and concerts, but rarely promotes himself by telling fans to check out his Twitter or Facebook page 5. Post consistently I. Coles Dreamvillians (close friends, managers, etc.) post consistently, but not on behalf of J Cole, but rather to let fans know whats happening during the in-between of Coles updates. II. E.g. Pictures from backstage, videos of rehearsals, private shows and how to get access and so onEckerlings Five Social Media Tips for Musicians