J. Cole officially dropped off his long-awaited sixth studio album, The Off-Season, at midnight EST today, May 14th. Streaming services momentarily crashed as fans came in droves to bump the new studio effort from the Dreamville boss. Dropping the tracklist to his Instagram just prior to the release, Cole made it seem like there were no features on the album. A quick listen-through will quickly show you this is not the case. The album is brimming with top-tier talent both on the mic and behind the beat.
You’ll find features on The Off-Season from the likes of Cam’Ron, Morray, and 21 Savage. Lil Baby even appears on “pride.is.the.devil.” For producers, you’ll see Seattle’s own Jake One alongside production from Timbaland, Boi-1da, T-Minus, Tommy Parker, Mario Luciano, Cole himself, and more.
The Off-Season comes as a follow-up to J. Cole’s tremendously successful 2018 album, KOD. There are rumors that J. Cole’s final album will be called The Fall Off, with The Off-Season serving as the precursor to this “final” release.
Earlier this week, Cole gave us a documentary about the creation of his newest album called “Applying Pressure: The Off-Season.” Directed by Scott Lazer, the film opens up with Cole explaining to 21 Savage why he chose to call the album The Off-Season. Dreamville President Ibrahim Hamad and Cole executive produced the documentary.
Standout tracks from the album so far include “95.south,” “my.life,” “Amari,” and “pride.is.the.devil.” Each track is a somber reminder that Cole remains one of the top lyricists of our generation.
Cole explores introspective topics of life, death, fame, and pride over his usual sample-laden yet simplistic production. Listen to The Off-Season below and find your favorite track before mainstream media sinks their teeth in.
