J. Cole & Mark Pitts, The Man Who Shaped His Career: Signing with Jay-Z To Cementing His Legacy

“Play the game to change the game,” says Mark Pitts, 17 years on from introducing J. Cole to Jay-Z. _Lights Please_ would be the song that was handed to Jay, ultimately landing JC his first major-label deal as Roc Nation’s flagship artist. Fast-forward almost two decades (and two Grammy awards) later, J. Cole has cemented his legacy and place at the top of the rap game; a position earned, in part, by finding himself under the spotlight with the help of veteran music exec and mentor, Mark Pitts. Here we sit in on a full-circle moment between GQ’s Frazier Tharpe, Cole and Pitts as they talk through the early days, J’s evolution as an artist and the ever-lasting influence of Jay-Z on Cole’s career as he embarks on his _The Fall-Off_ global tour to support his seventh studio album. GQ recommends: https://youtu.be/Uu_MVMOdbvY #JCole #ColeWorld #Music 00:00 - The reason why J. Cole signed to Jay-Z 06:35 - “Play the game to change the game” 12:28 - How J. Cole found himself 17:49 - Mark Pitts, the fullback 27:58 - Mark Pitts, the therapist 42:01 - The Fall-Off tour: “Look what we built” 44:09 - JC asks: who wrote Usher’s ‘Confessions?’ 51:34 - How JZ shaped JC Still haven’t subscribed to GQ on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/2iij5wt Subscribe to GQ magazine and get rare swag: https://bit.ly/2xNBH3i ABOUT GQ For more than 50 years, GQ has been the premier men’s magazine, providing definitive coverage of style, culture, politics and more. In that tradition, GQ’s video channel c