''The Warm Up'' is the second official mixtape from

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

rapper

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his d ...

. It was released on June 15, 2009. J. Cole produced the majority of the mixtape with help from

Elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

, and Syience. The mixtape has been viewed over 3,100,000 times, streamed over 451,000 times, and downloaded over 700,000 times on DatPiff. The mixtape went Double Platinum on DatPiff.

Background

In November, the single "

Lights Please "Lights Please" is a song by American rapper J. Cole, released on June 15, 2009 from his second mixtape, ''The Warm Up''. The song was later released as a single on November 24, 2009 and appeared on his debut studio album, '' Cole World: The Side ...

" was released. It was met with great critical acclaim, and caught the attention of rap mogul

JAY Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

. In December 2008, J. Cole dropped the mixtape "The Warm Up To The Warm Up". This mixtape was released as promotion for "The Warm Up". It included many songs that would make the final cut such as “Grown Simba”, “Dollar And A Dream II”, "'Til Infinity" and the original version of “ In The Morning” - a song that would later be remixed and included on Friday Night Lights. Then, in January 2009, Cole released the promotional single "I Got It".

Reception

J. Cole was famously signed to Roc Nation after Jay-Z heard the track "

" prior to the release of the mixtape. In August 2010 J. Cole, was awarded the UMA Male Artist of the Year thanks to his heralded The Warm Up mixtape. He was awarded the first ever Sucker Free Summit Who's Got Next in 2010 because of the mixtape. On June 26, 2013 J. Cole announced that he would be re-releasing ''The Warm Up'' and '' Friday Night Lights'' for retail sale, in order to give them the push they deserved. In his review for MSN Music, music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

gave the mixtape a two-star honorable mention, indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy." He cited "World Is Empty" and "Get Away" as highlights and quipped, "He's so talented you can hear how much he wants it, so talented you wince every time he shoots himself in the foot, e.g. 'Put some chains on my niggaz like I own slaves'".

Track listing

Sample credits * "Grown Simba" samples "Overture: A Partial History of Black Music" by Mervyn Warren * "Just To Get By" samples "

Get By "Get By" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Talib Kweli. It was released on March 11, 2003 as the third single from his debut studio album ''Quality'' (2002). The hip hop song, produced by Kanye West, samples " Sinnerman" as perfor ...

" by Talib Kweli * "Dead Presidents II" samples "

Dead Presidents ''Dead Presidents'' is a 1995 American crime film co-written, produced and directed by the Hughes brothers, Hughes Brothers. The film chronicles the life of Anthony Curtis (Larenz Tate), focusing on his teenage years as a high school graduate an ...

" by

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

* "World Is Empty" samples "My World Is Empty Without You" by

Lee Fields & The Expressions Elmer Lee Fields (born April 26, 1950 in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American soul singer, sometimes nicknamed "Little JB" for his physical and vocal resemblance with James Brown. He has worked with Kool and the Gang, Hip Huggers, O.V. Wrig ...

* "Dreams" samples "

Wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...

" by

Hank Crawford Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. (December 21, 1934 – January 29, 2009) was an American Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter whose genres ranged from Rhythm and blues, R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, and soul jazz. Crawford was ...

* "Royal Flush" samples " Royal Flush" by Big Boi (which samples " Voyage to Atlantis" by The Isley Brothers) * "Water Break" samples "I Shot Ya" by

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

and "Warning" by

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

* "Heartache" samples *"Born to Live with Heartache" by

Mary Love Mary Love (born Mary Ann Varney; July 27, 1943 – June 21, 2013) was an American soul and gospel singer, and Christian evangelist. After the 1980s she was known as Mary Love Comer. Life Love was born as Mary Ann Varney (or Mary Ann Allen, acc ...

* "Get Away" samples "Cross My Heart" by

Billy Stewart William Larry Stewart II (March 24, 1937 – January 17, 1970) was an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist who was popular during the 1960s. Biography Stewart was 12 years old when he began singing with his younger brothers Johnny, James ...

* "Knock Knock" samples "

Knock Knock Knock Knock may refer to: * Knock-knock joke, a type of joke Film and television * Knock Knock (1940 film), ''Knock Knock'' (1940 film), an animated short film noted for the first appearance of Woody Woodpecker * ''Knock Knock'' (2007 film), a ...

" by

Monica Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

* "Ladies" samples "Ladies" by Lee Fields & The Expressions * "Til' Infinity" samples "'93 'Til Infinity" by

Souls of Mischief Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. History East Oakland nat ...

* "The Badness" samples "Sunset Drive" by Husky Rescue * "Last Call" samples "Last Call" by

* "Losing My Balance" samples "Balance" by

Sara Tavares Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares (born 1 February 1978) is a Portugal, Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and brought up in Lisbon, Portugal, where she still lives. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean d ...

References

External links

J. ColeJ. Cole - The Warm Up Mixtape
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warm Up, The 2009 mixtape albums J. Cole albums Albums produced by J. Cole Dreamville Records albums