J. Cole’s The Off-Season
“My life is all I have
My rhymes, my pen, my pad
And I done made it out the struggle, don't judge me
What you sayin' now won't budge me
'Cause where I come from, so often
People you grow up with layin' in a coffin
But I done made it through the pain and strife
It's my time now, my world, my life, my life”
- “m y . l i f e”
Given the past year J. Cole has had, it’s hard not to view his latest project, The Off-Season, through the chorus of one of it’s highlights: the Styles P-sampling “m y . l i f e.” After criticism over his lack of public support for Black Lives Matter, a feud with Chicago rapper, activist and book club organizer Noname that saw Cole respond with the clumsy “Snow On Tha Bluff”, and signing a deal to play shooting guard for the Rwanda Patriots, the rapper, producer and label operator is unapologetically pursuing his career his way. Given the success he’s had over the better part of the decade, the vindication Cole feels in doing so is understandable, notably going “platinum with no features” and eschewing the collaborations that are frequent fixtures in hip hop. Interestingly, on his sixth studio album, Cole seems comfortable breaking this self-imposed restriction to the project’s immediate betterment. Commencing with the bombastic, horn-laced “9 5 . s o u t h,” featuring hyped up vocals from Dipset’s Cam'ron and Lil Jon, the track portents ill things to come, littered with the reflective witticisms we’ve come to know and love from Cole. These are followed by the deployment of his considerable literary talents to take aim at the envious (the last verse of “a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e”), the complacent (on the Bas feature “1 0 0 . m i l ‘“), the prideful (with the help of Lil Baby on “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l”) and himself, as he evaluates the existential dread he feels as the father of a black son in America (“l e t . g o . m y . h a n d”). Through all of this deliberation, “h u n g e r . o n . h i l l s i d e” serves as a fitting coda, embracing the duality of Cole’s gripes with other rappers while acknowledging that he is not immune to the aforementioned motivations and traits himself. While he may not be the GOAT as he repeatedly claims throughout The Off-Season (that’s MF DOOM), his propensity for self-reflection, inspired wordplay and mastery of multiple flows does make him one of his generation’s most talented MCs. The Off-Season is an indelible reminder that represents Cole’s finest work since 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
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If you like The Off-Season, check out:
Milky Way by Bas
Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse
Spilligion by EARTHGANG, JID and Spillage Village
DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar
Room 25 by Noname