considering it happens every time he tries to sing in a higher pitch than his normal voice. Which is becoming increasingly more common.

I think it's worse than Pharrell's early falsetto. I think it's far worse than Andre's singing, and I don't listen to/like Kid Cudi (but from my memory, he does sound Cole level bad). As I recall, Lupe's singing is terrible too.

The difference between Cole and most of the folks you mentioned -- is that none of them are trying to actually vary their pitch (except in deliberate attempts at humor).

Cole, to me, sounds like he's actually trying to sing. And again, it sounds terrible.