J Cole says he had to record his verse for Jay-Z's "A Star Is Born" in front of the legendary rapper with his wife, Beyonce, watching on in the studio as well. He recalled the tense moment before performing the track during his headlining set at Dreamville Festival on Sunday night.
Cole began by reflecting on signing to Jay-Z's Roc Nation back in 2009, a move he described as a "blessing." From there, he explained that Jay-Z asked him to come to the studio to work on a song together. "We get to New York, me and my n***a Ib. We walk in the studio. I'm already nervous. I see this n***a Jay-Z and who the f*ck was right next to him? Beyonce. Oh my God. My heart damn near fell out my chest. 'Damn, I'm already feeling pressure and this n***a wants me on a song. He got f*cking Beyonce right next to him. Okay, no problem. I'm built for this.' He start playing his album, The Blueprint 3. He's playing all these songs and the sh*t sounds amazing." Eventually, they get to the song Jay wants him to feature on and Cole begins performing "A Star Is Born."
J Cole's "The Fall Off"
J. Cole recalls Jay Z asking him to do a verse for The Blueprint 3 and finding out he had to record his verse live in front of both Jay AND Beyonce 😂
This verse really solidified the passing of the torch from Hov to Cole and Cole took advantage of the moment with his verse pic.twitter.com/Yhdv53enrC
— Jeremy Hecht (@Jeremy_Hecht) April 7, 2025
The performance at Dreamville Festival comes as J Cole is continuing to prepare for the release of his highly-anticipated album, The Fall Off. While performing at Madison Square Garden back in December, he hinted that it might be ready in time for his set. “I’ll see y’all at Dreamville Festival. Hopefully, I’ll have something new to perform for y’all," he told his fans at the time. With the festival having come and gone with no news of The Fall Off, fans are expectedly upset.
Elsewhere during the performance, J Cole performed with Erykah Badu and addressed the future of the music festival. "This festival will exist," he clarified. "It might not have the motherf***ing 'Dreamville Festival' name on it, but we will be back with this feel. When y'all out here, I don't know if y'all feel it. But to me, this s**t feel like a cookout, motherf***ing family reunion. It's so much love in this b***h. It's so many Black people in this motherf***ing festival."
[Via]
