On Jan. 28, J. Cole celebrated his 29th birthday in style: During his sellout show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, the rapper announced he had partnered with Interscope Records to launch a new label, Dreamville. “The deal’s been official since late December, but it felt too important to go out and yell it right when it happened. It needed a grand announcement,” Cole later told Billboard, explaining that Interscope president of urban music Joie Manda reached out to him last year. “He told me [I could] be a Dr. Dre to his Jimmy Iovine.” Cole also confirmed that his recording-artist deal with Roc Nation/Columbia is still in effect. “I love [both] — they’re the reason I can even do this.”
