Before he became the man that he is today, you could have sworn that J. Cole was no different to your average teenager with ambition of becoming a ‘somebody’ in Hip-Hop. The immense success of 2014 Forest Hills Drive propelled him to a whole new level of stardom (in May, he performed to a sold out crowd of 20,000 at London’s O2 Arena in sweatpants and a black tee) but there’s a huge part of the story that is seldom touched upon. The story of the teenager who looked up to duo in Fayetteville by the name of Bomm Sheltuh, the music he was making with them, their influence on him, his decision to move to New York at 18 years old and more.
The story starts with Filthe Ritch and Nervous Reck who in the late 90s through to the early 00s were regarded as easily the biggest thing to come out of Fayetteville. Nerv remembers creating the name, “Me and Filthe came up with our group name while we were hanging out in the carport shed trying to dodge Hurricane Fran. We said it felt like a bomb shelter so the name Bomm Sheltuh was born“. As Bomm Sheltuh, they were putting in a lot of work which was quantifying to success, so much so that they garnered the attention of a 14 year old who called himself Blaza and managed to discover the duo through his school newspaper. From there, he was persistent in hitting them up on AOL until, 5 months later, they finally replied. Filthe describes his first thoughts when interacting with Cole. “Cha-ching! (Laughs) I’m just f*cking witcha. I remember being very proud because he approached me and (Nervous Reck) saying that we were his favourite rappers and that he was inspired by us” he recalls. “I can honestly say that we looked at this like it was an honour just because he treated us like stars and we were globally local.”
Shortly after, Cole accepted an invitation to attend one of the pair’s small shows (which his mom drove him to) and he jumped on stage along with multiple older rappers during an open-mic segment. As Cole himself remembers it, he killed it and no-one’s quick to disagree. From that point on, the three started to work together on material, a lot of which we’re lucky to have access to today. Filthe states that “he was always a sponge” which is evident because it’s at this point that Cole learnt how to produce from Nervous Reck as opposed to rapping over Nas’ ‘Shoot Em Up‘ and Missy’s ‘Hot Boyz‘ instrumentals over and over again. Here, he also started making the transition from a battle rap style to showcasing his gift for storytelling which we appreciate now. After giving him the name Therapist (a play on Canibus’ artist Journalist), the trio were ready. Interestingly, a few listens to cuts from 2003 is enough to show you that Cole always had a promising future and was clearly inspired by his surroundings. What may surprise some even more though is that now, Cole is not so fond of his past material. “He says that they get him embarrassing press, if you will” Filthe says.
At the time though, nothing was stopping them. Filthe Ritch and Nervous Reck were the young stars with an even younger protégé whose future reality was to be brighter than anyone had dreamed. At this point, he’d made two appearances on a label compilation by the name of Fayettenam Bommuhs and was set to release an LP called The E.R. Modern Medicine executive-produced by Filthe before he decided to make the now famous move to NY. I ask Filthe if he thought Cole was crazy and his reply is surprisingly straightforward and puts things in perspective. “Not really. If you wanna study Islam you go to Mecca, same thing goes for Hip-Hop I guess“.
By the time he’d gotten to Queens, Cole realised that his perception of the underground scene there had been slightly out-dated and where the hype was really at was the South, which he’d just left. No matter though because he was still part of an online community at Canibus-Central, a forum dedicated to Hip-Hop where many posted their own mixtapes and battled it out between each other. In one instance, Cole (who still went by the username Blaza) got into it with a rapper around twice his age by the name of Ravenous. One of the highlights now is surely a line from Ravenous which likely hit a young Jermaine where it hurts. “Your teeth are crooked due to genetics, opposed to cavity“. Ironic now, considering one of his biggest songs is ‘Crooked Smile’. Therapist 1, Ravenous 0.
One of the most special things about the J. Cole we know today is how his genuine personality connects with the average man. It should come as no shock to you that even now, over a decade after their prime, he still shows public love to Bomm Sheltuh when possible. He shouted them out during a tour of his house and even collaborated with Filthe Ritch a few years back before the release of Born Sinner on ‘Liquid Courage II‘, a song which went under the radar for most and is over a beat which you may now recognise as Wale’s ‘The Success’. Nervous Reck quit rapping some years ago, simply feeling that he was too old. “Some people are pushing 40 and still dropping mixtapes with no budget. That wasn’t my idea of pushing the culture forward” he claims. Filthe still has the love for spitting and continues to record material, hoping that one day his true time will come. Although, Cole isn’t in a rush to give him a handout any time soon.
“I been homeless at least four times since he’s made it. I asked for a job but he said he couldn’t give me one. He wires me $100 when I catch him“. It’s a tough love kind of relationship. On one hand, you could argue that Cole shouldn’t have to put people on based off of personal relationships but you do have to wonder about the extent to which that’s relevant. Is it worth it? Despite that, there are no hard feelings on his mentor’s end. “I don’t blame him though, at all. L.I.F.E. (Living In Fayettenam Everyday) can throw you curveballs… With nails poking out of them (laughs).” As for Cole, a shoutout on ‘Note To Self’ served as a very deep message on his end that most overlooked. “Filthe, I love you too, man. I know you feel a way about me right now but I love you“.
Filthe’s final words are touching and thought provoking. “I remember 2Pac had an interview back in the day in which he stated ‘I may not change the World but if I can inspire the next mind that does’… You can kinda gather where he was going with that.”
– by Akaash Sharma