The Warm Up is the second official mixtape from Fayetteville, North Carolina

Fayetteville, North Carolina

Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....

 rapper J. Cole. All of the songs, except for three ("Dreams", "Ladies" and "The Badness"), are featureless. Other popular songs on the mixtape are "Can I Live", and "Grown Simba". J. Cole also raps over the instrumentals of the songs "Dead Presidents" by Jay-Z

Jay-Z

Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...

, "Last Call" by Kanye West

Kanye West

Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...

 and "Get By" by Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli

Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...

. J. Cole and The R.E.C also produced the majority of the mixtape with help from Elite, Syience

Syience

Reggie Syience Perry is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, record producer and musician. He has worked with a number of recognizable and respected artists, including Beyoncé, Cheryl Cole, Jay-Z, John Legend, Mary J Blige, Ne-Yo, and Nelly. Syience won two Grammys for his work on Mary J...

, and E.k.n.

J. Cole was famously signed to Roc Nation after Jay-Z heard the track "Lights Please" before the mixtape was released. In August 2010 J. Cole, was awarded the UMA Male Artist of the Year thanks to his heralded The Warm Up mixtape.

Track listing

Sample credits:

• "Grown Simba" samples "Overture: A Partial History Of Black Music" by Mervyn Warren
  Mervyn Warren
  Mervyn Edwin Warren is an American film composer, record producer, music conductor, music arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist. Warren is a five-time Grammy Award winner and a 10-time Grammy Award nominee...
  
  
• "Just To Get By" samples "Get By" by Talib Kweli
  Talib Kweli
  Talib Kweli Greene , better known as Talib Kweli, is an American hip-hop artist and poet from Brooklyn, New York. His first name in Arabic means "student" or "seeker" ; his in Swahili means "true"...
  
  
• "Dead Presidents II" samples "Dead Presidents" by Jay-Z
  Jay-Z
  Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
  
  
• "World Is Empty" samples "My World Is Empty Without You" by The Supremes
  The Supremes
  The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
  
  
• "Dreams" samples "Wildflower
  Wildflower (Skylark song)
  "Wildflower" is a song written by Doug Edwards and Dave Richardson in 1972. First performed by the Canadian band Skylark, it has been covered by many artists and more recently has been sampled in a number of hip hop songs.-Skylark recording:...
  
  " by Hank Crawford
  Hank Crawford
  Bennie Ross "Hank" Crawford, Jr. was an American R&B, hard bop, jazz-funk, soul jazz alto saxophonist, arranger and songwriter...
  
  
• "Royal Flush" samples "Royal Flush
  Royal Flush (song)
  "Royal Flush" is a single by American rapper and OutKast member Big Boi. The track features fellow OutKast member André 3000 and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon. It was the first time the three rappers collaborated with each other in 10 years since "Skew It on the Bar-B" in 1998...
  
  " by Big Boi
  Big Boi
  Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
  
  , which samples "Voyage to Atlantis
  Voyage to Atlantis
  “Voyage to Atlantis” is a 1977 slow jam released by The Isley Brothers on the T-Neck label. The single, which was off their multi-platinum album, Go for Your Guns, is about two lovers going their separate ways, depicting their eventual reunion as a journey to "a paradise out beyond the sea"...
  
  " by The Isley Brothers
  The Isley Brothers
  The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
  
  
• "Water Break" samples "I Shot Ya"
  Mr. Smith (album)
  -Track Notes:* No Airplay - edited on both the Edited and Explicit Versions of the Album, However the Explicit only backmasks on the song, the Edited version even edits the intro....
  
   by LL Cool J
  LL Cool J
  James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J , is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and actor...
  
   & "Warning" by The Notorious B.I.G.
  The Notorious B.I.G.
  Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
  
  
• "Heartache" samples "Born to Live with Heartache" by Mary Love
  Mary Love
  Mary Love, born as Mary Ann Allen or Mary Ann Varney , and later known as Mary Love Comer, is an American soul and gospel singer, and Christian evangelist....
  
  
• "Get Away" samples "Cross My Heart
  Cross My Heart
  Cross My Heart may refer to:*""Cross My Heart" , a 2010 song by Skepta*Cross My Heart: An Introduction to Phil Ochs, a compilation album of songs by Phil Ochs*"Cross My Heart" , a 1967 song by Phil Ochs...
  
   by Billy Stewart
  Billy Stewart
  Billy Stewart was an American musical artist, with a highly distinctive scat-singing style, who enjoyed popularity in the 1960s.-Biography:...
  
  
• "Knock Knock" samples "Knock Knock" by Monica and Kanye West
  Kanye West
  Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
  
  
• "Ladies" samples "Ladies" by Lee Fields & The Expressions
• "Til' Infinity" samples "'93 'Til Infinity" by Souls of Mischief
  Souls of Mischief
  -Studio albums:-Singles:-External links:* [ Allmusic Biography]* *...
  
  
• "Last Call" samples "Last Call" by Kanye West
  Kanye West
  Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
  
  
• "Losing My Balance" samples "Balance" by Sara Tavares
  Sara Tavares
  Sara Alexandra Lima Tavares is a Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and percussionist. She was born and brought up in Lisbon, Portugal, where she still lives. Second-generation Portuguese of Cape Verdean descent, she composes African, Portuguese and North American influenced world music. She...
  
  

Leftover Tracks:

• "Playground"
• "Song for the Ville"
• "I Got It"
• "Serenade"
• "I'm Comin"
• "Show Me Somethin"
• "I Really Mean It"

External links

• J. Cole
• J. Cole - The Warm Up Mixtape