The Off-Season

5.5.21

J. Cole The Off-Season Release May 14th, 2021

Yesterday afternoon, J. Cole took to his solemnly used social media channels to announce the release of his sixth studio album, The Off-Season. The album is said to release on May 14th, after what J. Cole states has been “years in the making.” Album artwork always tells an interesting story, and we see J. Cole wearing all black, walking away from a basketball hoop that is lit on fire from top to bottom, with smoke all around them. In recent months we have learned a lot about the sincerity in J. Cole’s passion for the sport of basketball, and it is clearly showing in the album artwork, and album name, of this new album.

Back in December, J. Cole announced a line up of “goals” that he was working on. At the top was The Fall Off, which we received last year, the next item that was not already cut off was titled “The Off-Season,” followed by It’s A Boy and The Fall Off. While fans were previously waiting for The Fall Off, it is apparent that J. Cole has a plan in everything that he was working on, and the order of sequence in which he wants to share with his fans.

Fans questioned J. Cole when he dropped Snow on the Bluff, but he seemed to quickly redeem himself with The Fall Off. People have been supporting him with his signature PUMA sneaker, as well as his endeavors to play professional basketball. There have been some hints that he was practicing professionally, or seeking meetings with partners, but so far, no serious contracts have been confirmed.

Now, I by no means believe this album is going to be about his basketball journey, though the title and album artwork look in alignment with his dreams of playing professional basketball. However, I do think it could go into deep detail about everything he has worked through in his life up until this point, and perhaps you can make parallels to how that works as a professional athlete as well.

This album should do numbers. Let’s see if we last two more weeks waiting for it.