J. Cole to use childhood home as safe haven for single mums

Rapper J. Cole is turning his childhood home in North Carolina into a safe haven for single mothers living in poverty.

The Lights Please hitmaker titled his latest album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, after the address of the home where he used to live with his mum, brother, and stepfather.

After he graduated high school in 2003, the house was foreclosed while he attended university in New York City, but last year, he re-bought the property, and he recently revealed his big plans for the purchase.

During an interview on podcast series The Combat Jack Show, Cole, real name Jermaine Lamarr Cole, announced he will be re-opening the home for women with multiple children, offering the space rent-free for two years.

He explained, "My goal is to have that (the house) be a haven for families. Every two years a new family will come in, they live rent-free.

"The idea is that it's a single mother with multiple kids and she's coming from a place where all her kids is sharing a room. I want her kids to feel how I felt when we got to the house."

Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive album was a hit when it was released last month (Dec14), becoming his third straight number one record.