J. Cole, The Off-Season | Album Review 💿

Grammy-winning rapper J. Cole delivers an enjoyable, well-rounded sixth studio album with The Off-Season. 

Anytime there is a new 🎙  J. Cole album on deck, it’s big news.  It’s no surprise that 💿  The Off-Season, the sixth studio album by the 🏆  Grammy-winning rapper, debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200.  Besides its commercial success, there’s plenty to like about The Off-Season critically as well.  Is this the best album Cole has ever released? No, that honor belongs to 💿 Cole World: The Sideline Story ultimately, and your pick of his consistent, enjoyable albums that have followed.  That said, The Off-Season fits well into his discography and any rap enthusiast’s listening rotation. 

“9 5 . s o u t h”

J. Cole kicks off The Off-Season with a bang with ✅  🎵 “9 5 . s o u t h.” It begins with an intro by 🎙  Cam’ron. Then, Cole gets things started, touting his skills and success in the game.  Also, he brilliantly takes a shot at rappers who rely on quantity over quality with very little gain.  There’s no chorus, but there is an interlude between the first and second verses, with a badass outro following the second verse.  On the outro, we get more Cam’ron as well as a timely 🎙  Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz sample, 🎵  “Put Yo Hood Up”.  Epic start to The-Off Season to say the least.

Cole has a hard act to follow – “9 5 . s o u t h” is that good.  While the two-and-a-half-minute 🎵 “a m a r i” doesn’t supplant it by any means, Cole definitely keeps a good thing going.  This round, the rapper serves up a chorus (following the intro), but only one verse.  He makes the sole verse worthwhile of course, delivering agile, melodic rhymes.  Follow-up 🎵  ✅  “m y . l i f e” is more intriguing, pairing him with 🎙  21 Savage once again (🎵 “a lot” won a 🏆 Grammy for both) as well as 🎙  Morray.  Starting with the backdrop, I love the soulful backdrop – a great sound for the J.  As he’s done consistently up until this point, he eats the beat TF up, throwing sheer fire at you on the first verse.  Morray drops a tuneful chorus, with various moments where Cole joins in as well.  The first iteration precedes a lit 21 Savage verse where he spits real talk as always (“I see chicken, you niggas is breast to me / Planted a seed but it ain’t sesame / Can’t let you niggas or bitches grow next to me”).

“a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e”

With two out of the first three tracks featuring guests, J. Cole goes solo on 🎵 “a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e.”  While running nearly three-minutes in duration, it’s comprised of just one true verse and an outro.   Much like “a m a r i,” Cole makes that sole verse worthwhile, continuing to compel with his flow and mustering up some aggressive, incredibly assertive rhymes.  Bonus points for the backdrop, featuring production by himself.  He remains solo for the most part on 🎵 “p u n c h i n’ . t h e . c l o c k ,” save for appearances by NBA baller Damian Lillard on the intro and outro.   Once more, we get just one verse though lines like, “Shit profound, we propagating more profanity / Paid off collections from recollections of calamity” make it totally worthwhile.  Also, I enjoyed the Danity Kane reference: “All them niggas is so Kane, they started singin’ like Danity.”

🎵 “1 0 0 . m i l’” is a prime example of J. Cole of making some stylistic changes on The Off-Season.  The chorus is definitely uncharacteristic, only finding him repeating himself regarding his riches.  Of course, when the title of the song is “1 0 0 . m i l,” the expectation is money is going to be involved. For Cole, well, he’s “On Mount Rushmore, you niggas can’t front no more, bitch / I’ma reign until FEMA show up.” Alrighty then… I guess “Shit makes sense when you see how I spend mine” and understandably, at the top of his game, he “Can’t leave the game yet, I feel like LeBron.”

“p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l”

“Bright lights pass me in the city, it’s emergency / I’m thankful ‘cause I made it past my thirties, no one murdered me.” Woo! If it seemed that J. Cole might be ‘feeling himself’ a bit much on “1 0 0 . m i l,” he dials it back on standout, ✅  🎵  “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l.” Just as the title suggests, Cole speaks about how pride can be a negative thing. On the first verse, he asserts, “Pride be the reason for the family dichotomy / Got uncles and some aunties that’s too proud to give apologies.” True – FACTS! Of course, a huge selling point is the featured guest: 🎙  Lil Baby.  Lil Baby has ‘been on a tear’ and that ‘tear’ continues on the second verse of “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l.” One of my favorite lines:

“Got my feet up, I paid silly bands to have sex on the jet
I don’t need ‘em, that shit in the past, I’m feelin’ like what’s next.” 

A couple more featured guests join Cole on 🎵  “l e t . g o . m y . h a n d” (🎙  Bas and 🎙  6LACK).  Like much of The Off-Season, there’s plenty to heart about “l e t . g o . m y . h a n d.”  The soulful, old-school production (Cole, 🎛  WU10, 🎛  Frank Dukes, and 🎛  DJ Dahi) is perfect fuel for Cole’s fire. He sings the chorus, before dropping a hella smooth, easy-going but reflective verse (the sole verse, again).  So, where do the guests come in? Well, Bas and 6LACK sing the chorus alongside J the second time, while Bas goes on to perform an extended bridge.  Beyond the bridge, 🎙  Diddy, who’s seen his profile rise when it comes to cameos, performs the outro.

 “i n t e r l u d e”

“I be comin’ in peace but fuck me / Best beware of the others / This shit deep, undercovers creep / This southern heat make unbearable summers / Just last week, seen yo’ mama weep!” Woo! There’s plenty to like about this short but sweet, ✅  🎵 “i n t e r l u d e”. The production, by Cole, 🎛  T-Minus, and 🎛  Tommy Parker is fire.  The backdrop is incredibly soulful, featuring awesome drum programming. Cole serves up a more melodic performance.  Even with pitch behind him, he remains fiery to the nth degree: he’s aggressive, rhythmic, and incredibly tough and hard-nosed.  The flow and the rhymes themselves are what make “i n t e r l u d e” so phenomenal.

On the potent ✅  🎵  “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k”, Cole continues to show just how superb he is at his craft. He’s on autopilot on “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k,” which arrived in 2020.  It’s not extremely flashy in regard to sound but plays to his strengths. Cole absolutely slaughters the mic.  On this conscious joint he covers a lot of ground with plenty of clever, lyrical references.  Early on, on the first verse, his wordplay is stellar as he rhymes, joint and points, and manages to use points referencing exclamation points, as well as point guard in basketball (“My nigga shoot first as if they never played the point, more two guards…”). Of course, that particular line runs much deeper than basketball as Cole is ensuring the world is fully woke. There’s always a message and “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k” delivers, encompassing the black experience throughout including gun violence.

“c l o s e”

Penultimate track 🎵 “c l o s e” keeps The Off-Season on the ‘up and up.’ J. Cole is the ‘do-it-all’ dude here, both rapping and producing.  Like the best records, the backdrop hearkens back to the past and Cole keeps the bars fast paced and rhythmic to the nth degree.  Once more, there’s only one verse, but as he’s done consistently throughout The Off-Season, he makes it worthwhile.

Cole concludes with 🎵 “h u n g e r . o n . h i l l s i d e,” featuring contributions from Bas again (portions of the chorus and the outro).  Here, J relinquishes production duties to 🎛  DRTWRK, 🎛  Don Mills, and 🎛  Boi-1da, who construct a lovely instrumental that suits him perfectly.  As far as the rhymes, Cole is more melodic on the first verse, embracing modern rap to a certain degree.  He doesn’t sell out of course.  On the second verse, he raps quicker and with less pitch – truer to self to some degree.  You could argue one of the better moments of the song arrives courtesy of Bas on the outro.

Final Thoughts 💭 

So, how does The Off-Season stack up for J. Cole? All in all, Cole delivers the goods.  The Off-Season isn’t the second coming or necessarily a contemporary rap masterpiece mind you, but Cole does a lot of things well.  It is a bit odd that there are so many one-verse songs on the album, but he does at least intrigue with his rhymes in those cases, nonetheless.  Of course, the best songs have ‘more meat’ such as the stellar opener “9 5 . s o u t h,” and the older, yet still potent “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k.”  Ultimately, The Off-Season earns my seal of approval. 

✅  Gems 💎 : “9 5 . s o u t h,” “m y . l i f e,” “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l,” “i n t e r l u d e” & “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k” 

🎙 J. Cole • 💿  The Off-Season • 🏷  Dreamville / Roc Nation • 🗓  5.14.21

[📷 : Dreamville / Roc Nation]