J. Cole: Why isn't he blowing up and how will he end up?

I think it's because he has no charisma and he's just not that
interesting. He's just a good rapper and that's it.

I think he'll end up being like the new, less charismatic Joe Budden
(not that that's a bad thing), just going indie eventually and having
a small but dedicated fanbase.

He won't sustain a major label career and he won't be one of the
greats.
Get out of the internet bubble. J. Cole's buzz is marginally better
than Young Chris's. Who Dat flopped (It wasn't aimed as a commercial
hit but it flopped both commercially and on the streets) and Work Out
is trash and won't chart.

He's also reluctant to work with producers for whatever reason (More
publishing for himself? Who knows.) so he'll keep making his own
little boring beats.

I think he'll get dropped by Jay after the first album if he doesn't
start doing better.