J Cole shares shocking childhood habit

J Cole revealed a hair-raising truth about his life: he started smoking ridiculously young.

Speaking to Lead by Example With Bob Myers podcast, hosted by Golden State Warriors president, the Middle Child rapper disclosed, “At 6 years old, I was smoking cigarettes regularly around the neighbourhood."

The US rapper continued, “I was always hanging around the older kids in the neighbourhood that [my older brother, Zach] was hanging around and they were smoking. And I was young and fearless and trying to be cool.”

“So, it was like, ‘Oh, y’all smoking. Let me see that.’ And, of course, we’re all out there [with] young parents, long leashes. Not that [my mom] knew I was doing this."

Cole added that his older brother snitched to their mother about his smoking.

“She was like, ‘Say something,’” he recounted. “I was like, ‘What do you mean, say something?’ and when I said it she bent down, she smelled the cigarette smoke on my breath.”

The 38-year-old described the moment as “life-changing.”

“After that, I didn’t need much correction, I became a self-corrector,” he said. “That was the first time I became aware that, ‘Oh, my actions can hurt someone else,” the Grammy winner added.