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J. Cole raps from the faux rooftop at high-energy Gexa concert

It's official: J. Cole's star has risen to the level of big-budget, high-concept arena tours. As a performer, the 30-year-old North Carolina rapper seems more than ready for the designation. Thousands of screaming, hand-waving and chanting fans in Dallas can attest to that.

On Sunday at Gexa Energy Pavilion — the third packed night of an especially busy weekend for the outdoor Fair Park venue — Cole transformed the stage into a neighborhood rooftop bearing window-shaped LED lights. Its backdrop? A jumbo screen and light rig that changed the mood from intense to dreamy and back several times over.

Cole, ever candid with his followers, even made reference to the drawbacks of such a grand production, joking that its bells and whistles put a significant dent in his finances. Yet he knew and we knew that the extra amenities helped to elevate his concert experience.

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The rooftop set evoked Cole's early days in his Fayetteville, N.C., digs, an upbringing brilliantly depicted on last year's hit album 2014 Forest Hills Drive (named for the address of his childhood home). He sat atop his high-tech roof in a thinking man's pose to begin his headlining set. The mere sight of him had folks screaming from the pit to the top of the lawn.

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Following a mood-setting intro, Cole quickly met the crowd's enthusiasm with his own, launching into the socially conscious album opener "January 28." His rapping and showmanship from that point on demonstrated why he was at the top of the bill on Sunday. He's mastered the movements and vocal ferocity required for connecting with far away, cheap-seat fans. (Big Sean, one of the opening acts, still has a little work to do in that capacity, although he still got people sufficiently revved up earlier in the evening.)

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Cole spoke to the crowd early on about his intent for the performance. He referenced the fact that his latest album had gone platinum without the benefit of any big-name guest spots or smash singles. The implication is that 2014 Forest Hills Drive hit the big time on its production and lyrical merits alone.

"If it's cool with y'all, I'm trying to perform the whole album," he announced to booming applause. And that he did, with a few detours into earlier hits and formative mix-tape tracks.

The audience rapped and sang along with pretty much every song, but they poured the most energy into "Wet Dreamz," an autobiographical tune about Cole's first sexual experience, and "No Role Modelz," a cautionary tale about the hidden sadness of Hollywood women. In setting up the latter tune, Cole earned one of many laughter eruptions from the crowd by comparing California's pervasive butt implants to bags of "wet cement."

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It was refreshing, in a world of tightly controlled pop tours, to see the rapper talk at length between songs. Not only did he encourage his fans to follow their dreams by relaying struggles encountered while chasing his, but he also found time to customize his comments for  Dallas diehards. He said he'd spent summers here growing up, and then earned the biggest applause of the night when he shouted out Oak Cliff.

And later, as J. Cole began to intensify his performance during "G.O.M.D.," he urged the crowd to jump higher and scream louder: "I need them to feel this [expletive] in Fort Worth."

Fans line the front row for J. Cole at Gexa Energy Pavilion.
Fans line the front row for J. Cole at Gexa Energy Pavilion.(Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)