How Toosii's Meeting with J. Cole Changed His Life

Even though J. Cole apparently went ghost on Toosii, the “Favorite Song” vocalist says his encounter with the Dreamviller MC as a teenager was an unforgettable experience and left a mark on him.

In a recent interview with radio host Big Boy, Toosii opened up about how pivotal of a moment it was for him in his early years as an aspiring artist to meet his fellow North Carolina-bred idol. Reflecting on the encounter, during which he says he was 16 years old, he recalled how it was a premeditated incident that he planned in order to give his music directly to J. Cole. He says he can still remember the entire scenario vividly, even after all these years.

“I remember when I first met J. Cole and I gave J. Cole my CD,” Toosii started off. “The fact that he even let me meet him and give him my CD, that’s one moment that I would never forget. I still remember what I had on and everything. I remember what he had on.”

Toosii then described how he strategically planned the meeting, knowing that J. Cole often played basketball at the Boys and Girls Club in Raleigh.

“I knew he had a game there one day, so I pulled up to his game and watched him play,” he said.

After the game, Toosii approached Cole, presenting him with his CD, which included a handwritten letter.

“I pulled up to the game after he played, I gave him my CD and I was like, ‘Yo, my name is Toosii, nice to meet you, bro. I want to give you my CD and I hope you like it,'” Toosii said.

Toosii was blown away when Cole not only took the CD but also stopped to take a photo with him, despite not taking pictures with anyone else.

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“He stopped, he took the picture, and he hopped in his van and he popped the CD in,” he said. “This is one moment that I’ll never forget, ever in my life.”

Despite this impactful meeting, Toosii has not crossed paths with J. Cole again since that day.

“I’ve never seen Cole ever since then,” he noted.

Comparing their careers, there is quite some time between when the pair of artists emerged into the mainstream limelight. A decade, in fact, almost! J. Cole released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011, while Toosii dropped his first album, Poetic Pain, in 2020.

In sort of a full-circle moment, both artists also delivered projects this year, via J. Cole’s Might Delete Later project and Toosii’s recent album JADED. Despite the years between their beginnings, the connection they share through North Carolina’s music scene remains a powerful motivation for Toosii.