J. Cole’s 2009 mixtape ‘The Warm Up’ released to streaming services for first time

J. Cole has offered his long-term fans a treat by making his second mixtape ‘The Warm Up’ available on streaming services for the first time.

As of Friday (November 22), the 22-track project is available on all major streaming platforms, arriving just days after he also made his first major tape, ‘The Come Up, Vol. 1’, available in the same format.

‘The Warm Up’ was pivotal in the rise of the North Carolina rapper, with its single ‘Lights Please’ catching the attention of Jay-Z, eventually leading to Cole being signed to a deal with Roc Nation.

Cole’s manager and business partner Ibrahim ‘Ib’ Hamad shared some insights into getting the mixtape onto streaming, writing on X: “Took us 15 years but I’m so happy we’re able to get this up. This project is very special to me, shit really put Cole in the game and we ain’t look back since. Forever grateful for this project, legit changed n***** lives forever.”

The Warm Up out now everywhere.

Took us 15 years but I’m so happy we’re able to get this up. This project is very special to me, shit really put Cole in the game and we ain’t look back since. Forever Grateful for this project, legit changed niggaz lives forever. pic.twitter.com/s45wi5UL6t

— Ibrahim H. (@KingOfQueenz) November 23, 2024

Cole’s ‘The Warm Up’ tracklist

1. ‘Intro (The Warm Up)’
2. ‘Welcome’
3. ‘Can I Live’
4. ‘Grown Simba’
5. ‘Just To Get By’
6. ‘Lights Please’
7. ‘Dead Presidents II’
8. ‘I Get Up’
9. ‘World Is Empty’
10. ‘Dreams’ (ft. Brandon Hines)
11. ‘Royal Flush’
12. ‘Dollar And A Dream II’
13. ‘Water Break (Interlude)’
14. ‘Heartache’
15. ‘Get Away’
16. ‘Knock Knock’
17. ‘Ladies’ (ft. Lee Fields and The Expressions)
18. ‘Til’ Infinity’
19. ‘The Badness’ (ft. Omen)
20. ‘Hold It Down’
21. ‘Last Call’
22. ‘Losing My Balance’ 

Cole found himself part of the huge Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud earlier this year, with his and Drake’s collaborative single ‘First Person Shooter’ proving to be the launching pad for the saga. On that track, Cole called the trio “the big three”.

That caused Lamar to clap back on his verse on ‘Like That’, from Metro Boomin and Future’s joint album ‘We Don’t Trust You’. “Motherfuck the big three / N****, it’s just big me,” he rapped as a retort.

Cole in turn responded with ‘7 Minute Drill’, a “mere warning shot” at Lamar on which he mocked his recent albums and work rate. Cole later apologised and removed the song from streaming platforms, calling it “lame, goofy shit” to have put out – making the whole rap game believe that the feud was over in just one week.

Months later, Cole returned to the issue with the surprise single ‘Port Antonio’, on which he defended his decision to step back from the conflict.

“I pulled the plug because I seen where that was ’bout to go / They wanted blood, they wanted clicks to make they pockets grow / They see this fire in my pen and think I’m dodgin’ smoke / I wouldn’t have lost a battle, dawg, I woulda lost a bro / I woulda gained a foe,” he says on the track.

On Friday (November 22), Lamar surprise released his new album ‘GNX’, although none of the tracks from the Drake feud feature on the record.