J. Cole had an awesome birthday, and we're ranking the best moments, from Madison Square Garden to Jay Z's 'gift'

Tuesday was J. Cole's 29th birthday, and it was also his party. He celebrated in many a big way, and we ranked them down from good to incredibly awesome.

04) Releasing a new mixtape = Good

Releasing a mixtape is a positive thing, although rappers release them almost constantly. Revenge of The Dreamers is the sixth for J. Cole, his first since April's Truly Yours 2. Cole kept the tracklist short on this one, and although we won't necessarily say it's "for the best," these 11 tracks are all worthwhile. The title allows J. Cole to do what he does best: On one side play the role of the underdog, and then come back as the guy who can headline...we'll get to that later.

03) Starting your own record label imprint = Great

Something that rappers also do frequently-albeit not as often as they drop mixtapes-is start their own record imprints. The difference for Cole is that his will be backed by Interscope Records, a label that controls more rap than you realize. Some more "street credible" names under Interscope: Shady/Aftermath, Bad Boy, and it used to handle Death Row. We think Cole and Dreamville will be alright.

02) Headlining Madison Square Garden = Awesome

Madison Square Garden may not be as nice as the new Barclays Center, but it's still the most iconic venue in sports and music. Headlining that venue is something special, especially when you represent the Queens hip-hop scene. Even if you don't think topping the bill at MSG is that great, you have to acknowledge hosting Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar as your birthday guests is pretty much the best thing ever, unless...

01) Jay Z giving you his original Roc-A-Fella chain = Incredibly Awesome

As a special birthday present, Jay handed over his original Roc-A-Fella logo chain. It would have been nice enough to give Cole his own, as every other rapper that's spent time with the label seems to have a copy of the gold turntable featuring a stylized "R." But instead he gave his onetime protege his most famous piece of jewelry. Our advice to Cole: Keep Jay Z's gift locked up for safe-keeping, and keep rocking the Jesus piece.

Music Times was at Cole's show in Queens the night before as well. Check out our coverage.

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