North Carolina may not be known for producing hip-hop artists traditionally, but J. Cole may be changing that. Originally from Fayetteville, J. Cole has paid his dues performing regionally and all over the state.

Cole Word: The Sideline Story was recently put out by Roc Nation’s label, the label headed by hip-hop rap sensation Jay-Z. The album has exceeded expectations both with Cole himself and the label executives. It debuted selling more than 200,000 copies in the first week, and has the honor of being the highest charting debut hip-hop album of the year.

It would probably surprise many people to find out that I’m a huge hip-hop fan, but I am. I listened to several of J. Coles singles this week, and I have to say I’m pretty impressed. His style doesn’t remind me of the ‘Dirty South’ sound as I expected, but he does carry his own quality. I think it’s safe to say that he will stand out in the crowd and will eventually become an easily recognizable star.

Cole has released his fall tour dates on his website. If you’re near any of these places I strongly recommend getting tickets. You may be able to see a future super-star while he’s still on the ground floor. He’ll be performing in Worcester, Ma, Providence, RI, and New York city before heading over the pond to the UK.

His new album is available for purchase through iTunes, on his website and in both digital and hard copy formats on Amazon. If nothing else, check out this YouTube video to see what he’s all about.