J. Cole didn’t want to rely on top-charting producers to push him to commercial success in his early career.

During a sit-down with music executive Mark Pitts and GQ ’s Frazier Tharpe, the two-time Grammy winner recalled his past reluctance to work with hitmakers upon signing to Roc Nation in the late 2000s. The North Carolina native released his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story , in 2011.

“Roc Nation was new at the time. I'm walking in pure, meaning, I have no understanding of the industry,” the Fall-Off rapper said around the seven-minute mark of the video below. “And I'm not even really trying to. I'm just trying to figure it out on my own.…