Skip to Search Skip to Live Player Skip to Content Skip to Footer

J. Cole Releases ‘The Off Season,’ Fans React To The New Album

Laila Abuelhawa May 14th, 2021
J. Cole headlines the main stage on Day 1 of Wireless Festival 2018 at Finsbury Park on July 6, 2018 in London, England.

J. Cole has dropped his long-awaited album The Off Season, which he said was “years in the making.”

Indeed, it has been three years between album releases, with his last being 2018’s KOD, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, Billboard reports.

The Off Season is supposed to be a precursor to The Fall Off, an album Cole has been teasing since 2018. As we previously reported, Cole confirmed that he may eventually retire from the hip-hop world, but added that he would never announce that it’s the end of his career.

Cole reveals that the thought of retiring from music first entered his mind in 2014, following the success of his third studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. He said, “After [2014] Forest Hills Drive, [that] was the first time I ever got that feeling. It was after I got off tour and I could breathe. I was like, ‘Damn.’ For the first time, I felt comfortable in a good way. I allowed myself to just chill, watch TV, play video games. Simple s— that n—as do, but I don’t do. S— that before I wouldn’t allow myself to do, because it was like, ‘Yo, I got way bigger s— to do, way bigger fish to fry.’ I wouldn’t even give myself the pass of watching a whole [TV] series.” After Cole allowed himself that “me-time,” he thought, “Yo, you kind of got to where you always wanted to be. Now what?”

Responding to the rumor that The Fall Off might be his final album, Cole said, “Oh, bro, I’m super comfortable with the potential of being done with this s—. But I’m never going to say, ‘Oh, this is my last album.’ I never know how I’m going to feel two years, three years, four years down the line, 10 years down the line, but please believe, I’m doing all this work for a reason.”

Fans of J. Cole were hyped about his return to music:

Cole revealed the tracklist on Twitter:
1. “95 South
2. “Amari”
3. “My Life”
4. “Applying Pressure”
5. “Punchin’ The Clock”
6. “100 Mil’”
7. “Pride Is The Devil”
8. “Let Go My Hand”
9. “Interlude”
10. “The Climb Back”
11. “Close”
12. “Hunger On Hillside”

Tags