I know you’ve gotten thousands of letters since you burst onto the scene back in ’09 with "The Warm Up" This letter might be a bit different from all of those because I’m not writing to you to tell you how much you and your music mean to me, or how much you’ve helped me out in life, because I could write for ten pages and it wouldn’t do justice to you. I’m writing to you because I consider myself a storyteller, which is something we have in common. I think you’re also a storyteller, we just do it in different ways to a different audience.

I’m different than a lot of people, and I know that’s a super vague way to describe myself but I think you’re exactly the person who understands what I’m talking about. See, much like you, I’m not interested in talking to people about the glamours in life: how big my house will be when I’m a millionaire, how many different cars I’ll have in my garage, the amount of zeroes in my bank account. I’m much more interested in talking to people, and with people, about the everyday things in life. I’m much more interested in talking to people about the things we all share as human beings; love, loss, pain, etc. There’s so much pain in life. “Apparently” off of "Forest Hills Drive" is all I needed to hear to understand that you get it.

I’ve had my fair share of pain so far in my life, but I was lucky enough to realize how to utilize it. I realized that I could take all of the hardships I ran into in life and face them, then turn them into something positive. That’s when I discovered my love for writing and storytelling. The other motivating factor for me is love.

Why don't people don’t put more emphasis on love? Where did the meaning behind that word go? Love is the most powerful thing in this life, and I think people have lost track of exactly how powerful that word is. You talk about pain and love all the time, I mean you’re one of the rappers that connects with his audience on a real personal level. How many fans of rap can actually connect when these guys talk about the “bands” they throw down on the regular, or the amount of drugs they take on a daily basis? I’m pretty sure not many. But, when you start rapping about being in college, sitting at the back of your class and fantasizing about that one girl you’re pretty sure you’re in love with, or how much pain you feel for your mother, people can personally connect to that.

In an interview you did with NPR back in 2013, you talked about how different the process was for you when you were writing Born Sinner. You talked about how you didn’t even have a concept for that album, all you had was some energy, some stuff floating around in your head, and you had passion. That’s exactly why you’re my favorite artist. You have passion, and you let your passion lead you to the final outcome. You take events from your life, and you combine them with your crazy passion and the result is, in my opinion, the best in the business. I have passion for writing, too. I never have concepts in my head when I write, I honestly don’t know what the outcome will be half the time. I take a pen, because you said writing lyrics by hand is the best way to do it, and I let the words flow out of me and onto the paper.

Is it crazy for me to be comparing myself to you right now because I try to write in a similar style to you? Yeah, it is, because you’re up there with the best in the game, and I’m just a kid in college trying to get by. Just trying to get some thoughts out of my head through my writing. I find comfort in this, though, because you were just a kid in college at one point too. And, at one point you were just a kid who was happy to move “from a trailer park to a front yard with trees in the sky.” Life is funny like that, isn’t it? At one point you were happy to have a front yard, and now you’ve probably got more money than you know what to do with. But I know, no matter how much money you end up with, the little kid named Jermaine won’t ever go away. At least, I hope he doesn’t, because that kid sees life differently than others.

You’re inspirational, Cole. I’m sure I’m not the only kid who vibes out to “Love Yourz” at 2:30 in the morning as I’m trying to write something worth reading, but I may be the only kid who understands that you don’t set out to change the world with your writing. You let the world and the experiences it has given you reflect in your writing, and maybe if it’s good enough, your writing can have a profound effect.

Keep grinding. And, I mean this in the most sincere way possible, thank you for what you’ve done for me. Dreamville.