J. Cole has been single-mindedly focused on sharpening his pen since his debut mixtape, 2007’s The Come Up. On “I’m the Man,” a standout from that project, Cole even calls himself “the heir to the throne” — more than once. His ambition has been present and active from day one, and the strength of Cole’s belief in himself has only intensified. But that self-assurance over the years, especially recently, has left Cole sounding satisfied, sated, and the opposite of hungry. On his purported final album, The Fall-Off, Cole’s creative fire crackles quietly, refusing to burn out, but it’s weaker than the blaze that earned him his expansive audience.
Presented as a double album, The Fall-Off clocks in at a total of 1 hour and 41 minutes. As such, it’s a meaty experience that takes time to parse through — but certain songs leap forward. The strongest parts of the album are when Cole is rapping his ass off over dynamic beats. The Drake-esque “Two Six” and the dense, bass-indebted “WHO TF IZ U” from Disc One bring forth the animated J. Cole who’s worthy of the Big 3 status.
“Old Dog,” a high-octane, Disc-Two highlight with fellow North Carolinian Petey Pablo, matches the frenetic energy of the aforementioned tracks. Always more spirited when he’s reflecting on his region, Cole raps charismatically here about his pride in his home state: “A Carolina, bear in mind, we never had shit,” he spits, “But now the GOAT is from this bitch, so all that’s past tense.”
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An ardent student of the rap game, J. Cole has dedicated what seems to be his entire life to understanding and furthering the genre. Hip-hop has informed many of his actions and decisions, for better and for worse. And that’s the main issue with The Fall-Off — Cole isn’t reacting to the heat of the challenge anymore. He’s comfortable; complacent, even. Maybe that’s part of why he’s bowing out.
As he prepares to wind down his career, J. Cole is ready to take his victory lap, the most coveted move possible in rap. The Fall-Off is the vehicle he has chosen for that celebratory run, a double-barreled album that “brings the concept of [his] first project full circle.” “Disc 29 tells a story of me returning to my hometown at age 29,” he posted to Instagram on February 4th. “A decade after moving to New York, accomplishing what would have seemed impossible to most, I was at a crossroads with the 3 loves of my life; my woman, my craft, and my city. Disc 39 gives insight into my mindset during a similar trip home, this time as a 39-year-old man. Older and a little closer to peace.”
The victory lap in question has nothing to do with the beef that J. Cole notoriously bowed out of. As the entire world recalls, he wanted no parts of the culture-shifting smoke between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, choosing instead to take back a whole publicly-released diss track against K-Dot. Instead of re-hashing the still-standing grudge between his rap brethren, J. Cole takes this moment to honor the work he’s cultivated over the last 19 years. Specifically, Cole is using this album to pat himself on the back for all of the hard-won success he’s achieved on behalf of himself and his city of Fayetteville.
