J. Cole's 'Letterman' appearance re-runs Thursday

Fayetteville native and nationally acclaimed rapper J. Cole is scheduled to appear on a rerun of "Late Show With David Letterman" this evening.

The show airs locally on WRAL at 11:35 p.m.

Cole released his latest hit album, "2014 Forest Hills Drive," on Dec. 9 and made a guest appearance on Letterman Dec. 11, performing "Be Free."

The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart Dec. 17. It was his third consecutive release to make the chart, following "Cole World: The Sideline Story," which launched at No. 1 in 2011; and 2013's "Born Sinner," which started at No. 2 and moved to No. 1 in its third week.

"2014 Forest Hills Drive" also debuted at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart. Nielsen Music reports it sold 354,000 copies its first week, the largest week for a hip-hop album in more than a year.

Cole is a 2003 graduate of Terry Sanford High School who graduated from St. John's University in 2007 and quickly developed a following in the New York music scene based on the strength of his mix tapes.

In 2009, Cole was the first artist to sign to Jay-Z's record label, Roc Nation.

He was nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy in 2012.

Since his rise to fame, Cole has made several trips to his hometown to promote the Dreamville Foundation, which seeks to inspire young people to achieve their goals.