J. Cole is in The Off-Season mode.
The highly anticipated album will be released on May 14th, according to the latest announcement from the Dreamville rapper. J. Cole has been teasing the album The Off Season for the past few weeks, but this is the most conclusive message we have to date that the project is finally coming. He highlighted his long absence, saying that the album has been years in the works.
“Just know this was years in the making,” Cole tweeted on Tuesday (May 4th) while sharing the cover art of himself standing beside a burning basketball hoop. “My new album The Off-Season available everywhere 5/14.”
Fans are already trying to decode the burning hoop. Last week Friday (April 30th), J. Cole gave fans a rare update on the project via his Instagram Story. Needless to say, he appears quite upbeat about what he heard, saying, “Just rode through the city to The Off-Season. Dawg… Too excited.”
Just know this was years in the making.
My new album The Off-Season available everywhere 5/14 pic.twitter.com/aBw4po8fvx
— J. Cole (@JColeNC) May 4, 2021
The Off-Season is the follow-up to J. Cole’s 2018 album KOD, which saw huge commercial success despite not a single feature being on the album. It will be interesting to see if this project will have any guest features. Don’t hold your breath for that either.
KOD has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after selling more than a million copies by the end of 2018.
RELATED: J. Cole Announces ‘The Fall Off’ Mixtape Ahead Of New Album & Retirement
The Off-Season is perhaps the most anticipated hip-hop album this year, along with Drake’s forthcoming project, Certified Lover Boy, which has yet to receive a release date. This is shaping up to be a clash of the titans as both Drake and J. Cole have been at the top of the game over the past decade, although we can argue Drizzy more so than any other rapper.
