J .Cole finally drops ‘The Off-Season’ after years of elusive teasers
If you are a Hip-Hop fan to some degree, then you have most likely encountered the music of J. Cole at some point, whether it is a heartfelt cut such as ‘Love Yourz’, an amazing storyteller such as ‘Let Nas Down’, or one of his ear-grabbing features such as ‘A Lot’ or ‘Trippy’.
It is no secret that J. Cole is one of the most influential artists of this era, and the announcement of new material was bound to send Cole stans into hysterics.
J. Cole comes into The Off-Season off the back of his zainy, introspective KOD that was met with mixed opinions in 2018, as well as 2019s Revenge of the Dreamers III, which starred J. Cole and his other Dreamville label mates, and was nominated for a GRAMMY for ‘Best Rap Album’. The rapper also dropped three teaser tracks before this album’s release, two of which have ended up on The Off-Season towards the back end.
Contrary to J. Cole stereotypes, this album includes a small helping of features which is practically unheard of for a J. Cole album of recent years – guess this one won’t be going ‘platinum with no features’. This doesn’t take away from the album’s quality however.
The headbanging ‘m y . l i f e’ featuring 21 Savage, an artist who J. Cole shares a Grammy with, serves as the ‘A Lot Part II’, that we needed but didn’t know it.
Aminé inspired ‘p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l’ features a very good verse from Lil Baby, and serves as a great advocate for him breaking the ‘Young Thug Clone’ stigma.
The album is also accompanied by the legendary Cam’ron, who appears on the opening track, as well as Cole’s label-mate Bas.
It is evident that the features laced throughout this album take it to new heights, complimented by the charismatic, confident delivery that J. Cole brings so effortlessly to the table in his music. These aspects together make an exceptional listen for any hip-hop head and The Off-Season is definitely an album of the year contender.
Let us know your thoughts on the new album @pieradiouk
