"2014 Forest Hills Drive" was released as the third studio album by American rapper J. Cole in December 2014, released by ByStorm Entertainment, Columbia Records, Dreamville Records and Roc Nation. While the recording sessions took a full year, J. Cole was essentially responsible for the production himself. Producers involved included Illmind, Vinylz, Phonix Beats and Willie B. The album was announced with little promotion three weeks prior to its release and was supported only by the four singles "Apparently," "Wet Dreamz," "No Role Modelz" and "Love Yourz." "2014 Forest Hills Drive" was named Top Rap Album at the Billboard Music Awards and equally Album of the Year at the 2015 BET Hip Hop Awards. Jermaine, his real name, started rapping at the age of thirteen when he discovered his talent and love for telling stories with his lyrics. His idols at the time were mainly Tupac Shakur, Nas, Eminem and Jay-Z. To get in touch with the latter and play him a beat, he once waited for hours in front of Jay-Z's office building. The meeting did not take place then - but today J. Cole is the first rapper under Jay-Z's label Roc Nation.