J. Cole said he was addicted to cigarettes before he was 10 years old.
J. Cole recently admitted that he smoked cigarettes regularly at the age of 6. On Tuesday, March 21, ESPN aired a new interview in which Cole sits down with Bob Myers to talk about his childhood, rap career, and future. During the meeting, the Fayetteville, NC rapper revealed that he was addicted to nicotine years before he even hit puberty.
At age 6, I was regularly smoking cigarettes in the neighborhood, explained J. Cole. “I was always around the older kids in the neighborhood who my older brother was walking around and they were smoking. And I was young and fearless and trying to be cool. So it was like, 'Oh, guys smoking. Let me see that. And, of course, we're all out there with young parents, long leashes. Not that my mom knew I was doing it.”
“For them, it's funny. They themselves are 10 years old. So it's fun for them. No one is really worried about me. They are 10 years old and smoke cigarettes,” he continued. “This has been going on for two or three weeks. One day I was walking down the street at a house where it was happening and my brother came over I asked one of our friends from the neighborhood, “Hey, do you have any cigarettes?”
J. Cole said that his brother eventually told his mother, who later confronted Cole and was devastated to learn the truth. “The reason why I think it was a life-changing moment where after that I didn't need a lot of correction – I became self-correct is because it was the first time I realized, 'Oh, my actions might hurt someone else', he added. Cole is currently working on the sequel to his 2021 album, "The Off-Season".
