J. Cole is having a great year so far.

First he goes platinum, and it the first solo artist to do so without a musical feature in decades. Now, he’s also received his college degree.

The rapper told The Village Voice, “I’m gonna send it to my mom.”
St. John’s University presented the North Carolina rapper with the honor in Queens, on April 9. He would have gotten it sooner, but it was withheld due to an overdue library book.

Cole explained to the Voice:

 “I owed money for a library book that I didn’t turn in,” he admitted sheepishly. He has “no clue” what title it was but apparently even one vanishing book cost him his degree. “If you have any outstanding fee, that translates to money. There’s a price associated with it. I never paid. That’s why I don’t have my degree.”

“Tonight, I guess they let me slide,” he laughed. Nearly a decade after the fact, Cole already knows exactly what he’s going to do with his long-awaited piece of paper. “I’m gonna send it to my Mom.”

J. Cole graduated Summa c## laude in 2007 and maintained an impressive G.P.A. of 3.82.

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