J. Cole’s 2 Kids: All About His Sons with Wife Melissa Heholt (2024)

J. Cole is a father of two.

The Grammy Award-winning rapper married his wife, Melissa Heholt, in 2015. Since their nuptials, the couple have welcomed two sons but have not shared their names.

Speaking with Vulture in April 2018, Cole opened up about his pride in his family.

“I’m a f------ successful rapper, who can literally at the drop of a hat go anywhere, do anything, have mad adventures,” he said. “But there was no better decision I could have made than the discipline I put on myself of having responsibility, having another human being — my wife — that I have to answer to."

Cole continued, "Family can literally be the thing you always needed, bring balance and meaning and fuel your creativity, give you purpose.”

The “Middle Child” rapper also revealed that comedian Dave Chapelle gave him valuable baby advice. “He said: You’ll hit another gear, you’ll hit a gear that you never knew you had when you have kids. It actually proved to be true,” he explained.

Here’s everything to know about J. Cole’s two kids.

J. Cole's Older Son

Cole confirmed the arrival of his first son with Heholt during an interview with radio DJ Angie Martinez in May 2018. Cole has yet to reveal the name of his firstborn.

The rapper explained that part of his purpose in life was “to be a father and a husband." Cole added that he “can’t just do one thing and then be a dad and a husband” because it puts “too much weight on these things.”

Though the rapper didn’t confirm the arrival of his first son until 2018, he later revealed in a personal essay for The Players' Tribune that he and Heholt found out they were expecting sometime in 2016.

However, Cole did open up to GQ in March 2019 about how he didn’t feel that fatherhood had changed him because he had prepared to welcome his son.

“For a while, I felt a little weird about it. Like, nah. I felt, ‘Did I miss something?’ 'Cause I didn't feel the change that people talk about. And then I figured out what it was,” he said. “I changed my life in order to get ready to have a family and to have a son."

The Billboard Music Award winner continued, "I literally changed my life, where I was living, the things that I was doing. I changed. So because of that, when my son came, I was ready. I already made room.”

J. Cole’s Younger Son

With his second child, Cole took a nontraditional approach to announcing he and Heholt were expecting again.

In the track “Sacrifices” from his 2019 album Revenge of the Dreamers III, the rapper included lyrics about his love for Heholt and their growing family.

“I had nowhere to go, she gave me a place to stay / She gave me her heart to hold, I still got that s--- to this day,” he rapped in the song. “She gave me the gift of my son, and plus we got one on the way / She gave me a family to love, for that, I can never repay / I’m crying while writing these words, the tears, they feel good on my face.”

In July 2020, Cole confirmed that he was a father to two sons in his personal essay titled “The Audacity” for The Players' Tribune.

"I've been blessed with two sons, learned the delicate art of balance between parenthood and career," he said about the previous four years of his life.

After becoming a father of two, Cole made an appearance on the podcast Lead By Example with Bob Myers in March 2023 and explained that he doesn’t have any expectations for the lives his sons will lead.

“There’s curiosity about what will become, what will their interest be, but there’s no wish or hope in terms of what it is,” he said. “I think my wish and my hope is more like I just want you to cut down the time that it took me to the thing that I learned at 30, I hope you can learn at 15 or 16."

Cole continued, addressing his sons, "I want you to be able to learn the lessons that could lead you to peace quicker because I know what life is like trying."

The rapper even related his life experience to his dreams for his two kids.

“I know what life is like to be living in your confidence," he said. "What I hope for them is ... as long as you feel at peace and comfortable ... that would be the biggest blessing. Everything after that is a bonus.”