God's Gift

Having been the first artist signed by Jay-Z to his Roc Nation label then getting a verse on Jay-Z's 2009 The Blueprint 3 track, "A Star Is Born," North Carolina rapper J. Cole was hoping he might get the CEO to lend his voice to his debut album. This was the cut he had in mind and he purposely left an empty slot at the end in the hope that Hova would get on it. Instead, it was another track, "Mr. Nice Watch" that would bear his boss's bars.

The song finds the rising North Carolina MC recalling his early days when Jay wouldn't even accept his demo CD and celebrating his subsequent success. Cole was going to offer the song to his fans as a free download, but after he made the beat at his home, he knew he had something good. "I actually did the song thinking I would just throw it out when I made it," he said of the track. "I made it in my crib and I was like, 'Man I'm gonna throw something out today, or tomorrow whatever, let me do a song.' Then I started making it, and as soon as I made it, I was like, 'Oh nah, nah.'"

Cole recalled to Artist Direct: "I made that song one day in my room. I find I make most of my best songs in my bedroom and I made that one day at the house, in my room. I thought I was going to make something and then throw it out to my fans when I was done with my album, but I made that beat and made that song in a few hours. It was too special to just throw it out there, so I decided to keep it for my album."