With the release of Drake’s long-awaited album For All The Dogs, he helped his friend and infrequent collaborator J. Cole reach a new career milestone. Their song from the album, “First Person Shooter,” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart earlier this month, giving Drake a history-making 13 chart-topping hits.
However, it may surprise some longtime listeners of the two blog rap icons that it’s only J. Cole’s first No. 1 on the Hot 100. Despite entering the public consciousness around the same time as Drake, J. Cole had yet to reach the pinnacle of the hot singles chart. The closest he’d ever come to date was No. 2, twice: once in 2021 with his The Off Season single “My Life” featuring Morray, and again earlier this year as a feature on Lil Durk’s “All My Life.” Prior to those peaks, his Revenge Of The Dreamers III single “Middle Child” topped out at No. 4.
Meanwhile, Cole has fared better on the hip-hop-centric charts. All of the above-mentioned songs reached No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, with the exception of “Middle Child,” which peaked at No. 2.
Regardless of how long it took Cole to reach this high watermark, it’s an accomplishment that no one can take away — and that may make it easier to return, if prior chart histories of acts like Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B, and Doja Cat are anything to judge by. He should be getting the chance to do so soon; he’s been teasing his album The Fall-Off for some time, and many fans believe it’s due sometime next year.
