Rapsody’s Favorite Version Of J. Cole Is ‘Mixtape Cole,’ And Fans Online Overwhelmingly Agree With Her

This weekend, fans and musicians gathered to celebrate the final installment of J. Cole’s beloved Dreamville Festival. As Dreamville Festival 2025 headliner Lil Wayne gave the “Clouds” rapper his flowers while onstage other performers like Rapsody showed J. Cole love while on the Dorothea Dix Park grounds.

During an interview with OkayPlayer, the Grammy Award-winner praised J.Cole’s mixtape run. When asked about her favorite version of Cole (mixtape run, studio album, or guest features), Rapsody didn’t hold back.

“Mixtape Cole,” she answered. “All the Coles are fire. All the Coles are legendary. But my favorite is Mixtape Cole.”

Rapsody continued by explaining the reason for her choice. “It’s attached to really good and raw memories,” she added. “Like, if you listen to Cole, and you’re a Cole fan or gotten to experience him in any way your first introduction had to be mixtape […] It was just a special really organic time authentic raw hip-hop time.”

She closed: “Mixtapes are kind of not a thing anymore. And the way that he came in the game and how he approached it… it was just special.”

Many of J. Cole’s diehard fans agree with Rapsody’s choice. J. Cole recently shared his mixtapes (The Come Up, Vol. 1, The Warm Up, and Friday Night Lights) to streaming, allowing new supporters to explore his back catalog.