WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two men were shot outside a hip-hop concert in New Jersey, local media reported.

The victims were shot during an argument after the concert for J.Cole at the PNC Bank Arts Center finished late Monday night, the New York Daily News reported.

Both men are in critical condition in hospital.

The newspaper posted images of crowds gathered around paramedics attending to the wounded men on a street outside the venue in Holmdel.

The shooter fired multiple times before fleeing into a wooded area, the newspaper quoted witnesses as saying.

J.Cole's "2014 Forest Hills Drive" won the Billboard Music Award for top rap album of 2015.