J. Cole gives back to Fayetteville community

Brion Unger first heard J. Cole rap when the future hip-hop star was 14.

Unger, an underground hip-hop sensation in Fayetteville in the late '90s, invited Cole onstage during a show, liked what he heard and took the Terry Sanford High School student under his wing.

In between making music in Unger's in-home recording studio, the two talked about getting out and making it - and coming home to give back.

"He's always loved where he was from, even back then," said Unger. "That's all we talked about when we were younger was helping our community as soon as we were able to."

Fifteen years later, J. Cole has made it.

He was nominated for a Grammy in 2012, and his third studio album - the platinum-selling "2014 Forest Hills Drive" - was the highest-selling hip-hop album of 2014.

Most recently, he sold out the Crown Coliseum, where his Forest Hills Drive tour wraps up Saturday with a 6:30 p.m. show.

Earlier Saturday, students will gather in the Crown parking lot with their school supplies list starting at 11 a.m. for a Back-to-School Supply Giveaway sponsored by the Dreamville Foundation.

The foundation was started by Cole in 2011 as a way to serve his hometown's urban youth.

"J. Cole is extremely passionate about the betterment of the Fayetteville community, especially its youth," the foundation's executive director, Melissa Heholt, said in an email.

Cole has been known to pop into town to stop by old haunts like the Round-A-Bout skating rink to visit with kids in Fayetteville Urban Ministry's Find-A-Friend program, or to join in discussions with the Dreamville Foundation's Young Men's Book Club or to hand out school supplies.

Unger, who now lives in Raleigh, has returned to Fayetteville several times to volunteer at the annual school supplies giveaway.

"It's always a really positive environment," he said. "Of course, the kids want to meet J. Cole, but he always stresses that the important thing is that they're getting what they need to succeed in school."

He should know.

While Cole was in New York trying to break into the music industry, he also was attending St. John's University in Queens on an academic scholarship. He graduated with honors in 2007 and two years later became the first artist signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation label.

And the first thing he did was return to Fayetteville, said WZFX Foxy 99 on-air personality Mike Tech.

Tech, the station's programming director at the time, booked Cole at the Foxy 99 Summer Jamz festival that summer.

"Ever since then, he's been coming back to do things for Fayetteville, and to me that has winner all over it," Tech said.

In January, Cole announced his plan to turn his well-known childhood home featured on the cover of his latest album into a rent-free haven for single-mother families.

Cole purchased the house last year through the Dreamville Foundation. His family had been forced to leave when it was foreclosed on while he was attending college in New York.

"He was the sole visionary (of the project)," said Heholt. Cole was involved throughout the process of bringing it to fruition.

The new occupants have not been selected, but the house is expected to be occupied by the end of the year, she said. The chosen family will live in the house with maintenance costs covered by the foundation for two years.

"When I heard about that, I just thought it was amazing," said local fan Nakacia Cook. "A lot of artists once they make it big they don't have to recognize their city, their school, their home, their upbringing and he does that."

Like Cole, Cook is a Terry Sanford graduate, as is her goddaughter who was present for the artist's 2012 visit to his alma mater.

On what was officially proclaimed "J. Cole Day," Cole stood in the school's gymnasium and talked to students about the importance of going to college, giving back to the community and pursuing their dreams.

"He's given Fayetteville a hero. He's given Fayetteville hope," said Tech. "Hope is the most important thing for anyone. It drives your ambition, and that's what he's given to Fayetteville."

Staff writer Brooke Carbo can be reached at carbob@fayobserver.com or 486-3523.