All about J. Cole

Jermaine Lamar Cole or better known by his stage name J. Cole is a rapper who was born on January 28th 1985 in a army base in Frankfurt, Germany. His father is a african american former soldier of the U.S army and his mother is from Germany and worked at an american post office. Cole’s father abandoned their family which forced his mother Kate to relocate him and his brother Zach. They ended up moving to Fayetville North Carolina.

J. Cole started rapping at the age of twelve and realized it was an ideal profession at the age of fifteen. His first stage name was Blaza when he then changed it to therapist but people would read it as the rapist so he decided to stick with J. Cole. He was musically inspired by Nas, Tupac and Eminem. He graduated with a GPA of 4.2. He moved to New York realizing it would be better to be noticed there. He went to University of St. John's University before returning to Fayetville. While there he worked at several part time jobs like a roller skating center.

One day J. Cole waited three hours outside of Jay Z’s studio with a CD and wearing a shirt that said “Rap For Jay Z or die trying”. When Jay Z finally came out he gave him the cold shoulder saying to J. Cole, give it to one of them. A year later it was Jay Z asking the kid he once dismissed to come and meet him.

His first mixtape was called the come up and in 2009 he came out with his second mixtape called the warm up. That same year he signed to Jay z’s record label called ROC nation. In April of 2011 he released his first album called Sideline Story which had the lead single Work Out. That album inspired his first tour which was called A Dollar and a Dream tour where it costed only one dollar to get in. In 2013 he came out with his second studio album called Born Sinner. In 2014 J. Cole dropped probably his best album called 2014 Forest Hill Drive which went double platinum without any features. He is the first person to reach this accomplishment since 1990. Recently, in 2016 J. Cole released the album 4 Your Eyez Only which is all about his friends life who died at a young age and the album is for that guy's daughter.   

J. Cole has now also started his own record label called Dreamville records. In 2016 Cole revealed that he is married to long time girlfriend Melissa Heholt. He is now considered one of the best rappers to ever live.

KG

Eliud Kipchoge Beats Marathon World Record

32 year old Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, has just completed the world’s fastest run of a full marathon. Kipchoge completed the 42.2 kilometers in an incredible 2 hours and 25 seconds. He beat the former record holder, Dennis Kimetto who is also from Kenya, by just over 2 and a half minutes. Kimetto finished the marathon in 2 hours and 3 minutes in 2014.

By doing this, Kipchoge is living proof that even the toughest barriers can still be broken. Kipchoge was overjoyed when he found out he had successfully beaten the previous world record, saying “We are human, I am happy that I’ve reduced by 2 and a half minutes the world record.” Kipchoge also added, “ We are going up the tree...I have lifted a branch and I am going onto the next one. This is not the end of the attempt of runners on two hours.” Kipchoge, who is considered amongst many to be one of, if not the greatest marathon runner in the world, even broke his own personal record, which was 2 hours and 3 and a half minutes, at the London marathon last year. This year’s event that Kipchoge competed in, which was called ‘Breaking2’ was completely sponsored by Nike.

“I rank this as the highest-ever performance in my life,” said Kipchoge while being interviewed. “The aim of ‘Breaking2’ was to pass the message that running less than two-hour marathon is possible. That message is really special to me.” However, this marathon seemed more like a publicity stunt by Nike rather than an actual sporting event. It seemed to have been just a coincidence that Nike released a brand new line of running shoes onto the market, only weeks after Breaking2 took place. “I believe that this has everything to do with shoe sales and very little to do with marathoning,” Kevin Hanson told Runner’s World just this week (Hanson is an elite marathon coach).

Unfortunately, Kipchoge’s record breaking time will not be instituted or considered an actual record that has been broken, because of small, very specific rules. Since, during the event, many runners started the marathon half way through, and many were given water while running, not everyone was participating in the same activities, therefore no records cantechnically be broken at this event.

Sources:

Toronto Star (Click Here For Link)

New York Times (Click Here For Link)

Pictures:

First Image of Kipchoge

Second Image of Kipchoge

Top 5 Loyola High School SSX Companies

This week at Pop 5 we will be presenting the top 5 SSX companies. Every year, Loyola High School in Montreal, Quebec holds a competition called the Student Stock Exchange (SSX). During the competition, secondary 5 students get together in groups of around 8 to 12 and create a product that they will later sell to the student body. The students always get very excited about the event, and it always turns out to be a great success. Here are my top 5 favourite SSX companies this year.

1. Champion Chicken

It was a tough decision, but my number one pick for the best company would have to be Champion Chicken. This was an amazing company that sold panini pressed chicken sandwiches with whatever toppings you wanted. Their menu consisted of the ranch melt, the barbecue melt, and the spicy melt. You also had a choice of putting bacon, caramelized onions, lettuce, and tomato on your sandwich. I went with the barbecue melt, with bacon, lettuce and tomato, and thought it was delicious. Also, my friend told me that the spicy melt was also very good.  Overall, I found that champion chicken had a great bang for your buck, as you are getting a very filling sandwich for only 6 dollars.

2. Boomin’ Burgers

In second place, we have Boomin’ Burgers. Boomin’ Burgers was a company that sold hamburgers. Everyone I asked absolutely loved their burgers including myself. I found that the burgers they were serving were comparable to a standard burger from a restaurant like 5 Guys. My favourite thing about the company (besides the great tasting burgers) would have to be the cost.  You could get yourself a Boomin’ Burger with whatever toppings you wanted for only 5 dollars. Overall, I found that Boomin’ Burgers was very good, yet the only complaint I would make is that my food was slightly cold when I received it.

3. Stranger Rings

At the number 3 spot, we have Stranger Rings. Stranger Rings was company that sold battered, deep fried Nutella rings with an option of chocolate syrup, caramel or Nutella topping and powdered sugar. I had never tried anything like this before and I was surprised by how good it was, and anyone else I talked to seemed to agree with me. I also really liked that on the second day they were selling they lowered their prices to 3 rings for $2.50 which I thought was a very good deal. Overall, I thought that Stranger Rings could have been number one but because they didn’t serve the food hot, the ring was kind of chewy and didn't have that melt in your mouth sensation that many people look for.

4. Bello Frito

In the number four spot we have Bello Frito. Bello Frito was company that was a competitor to Stranger Rings, because they were very similar. Bello Frito was also a food company that sold Nutella and chocolate filled pastries for $4, or 3 pastries covered in sugar for $1. I didn't get the chance to actually try Bello Frito because I spent my money at other places, but now I regret it because when I spoke to my friends, they all thought it was delicious. The only complaint that they had were that when they got it, the pastry was pipping hot and would burn their mouth and they would have to wait to eat it.

5. Leaning Tower of Pizza

Finally, we have Leaning Tower of Pizza. Leaning Tower of Pizza was a company that sold homemade pizza. The cost was $3 for one slice, $5 for two slices, or $15 for a box. Also, if you bought a box, you were put into a raffle to win some Supreme clothing. I thought that the pizza was very good, especially the crust and they served it at the right temperature unlike some other companies. My only complaint is that there was only one small part of cheese on my pizza and the rest was tomato sauce.