Finally. An album worth talking about. As J. Cole’s sixth full-length album, The Off-Season sees a much hungrier Jermaine. In comparison to his previous record, K.O.D., this current project scratched an itch of mine. It’s quite simple. Cole has been a little complacent as of late. As is the case with many rap artists at the top. Yet this time around J. Cole decided to dangle a tasty little treat in front of fans. The record kicks off immediately with a feature from none other than Cam’Ron. The New York icon is the face of the Dipset era many moons ago. Cole, becoming an adult in the streets of NY, clearly admired the 2000s rap group. Also, he added a Lil’ Jon crunk passage to complete the intro. Needless to say, this brewed some excitement within me. It’s apparent J. Cole witnessed the memes.
Let’s get one thing straight. There is nothing inherently wrong with going into an album solo dolo. However, what more does J. Cole have to prove? In terms of what he is capable of on his own, that is. Avoiding features by enlisting a distorted version of yourself is lame. Simple and plain. K.O.D. was a pedestrian album at best. Especially considering Cole’s array of technical rapping abilities. I enjoyed a healthy amount of it for about two weeks. As time went on, though, just a couple tracks stuck with me. I am happy to say that The Off-Season tops its predecessor by a mile. The flows here are blissfully abundant. Cole’s pen reaches even greater heights. “Could put an M right on your head, you Luigi brother now.” Hardest bar I’ve heard this year by far. “And you’ll see how i flip like exclamation points.” Español, anyone? Can’t deny: Cole is nice with it.
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Conversely, I left The Off-Season somewhat unsatisfied. Despite enjoying most of this album, I’ve come to the conclusion that J. Cole is a symbol. He symbolizes the difference between a great rapper or lyricist and a great rap artist. He is, of course, a recording artist and deserves to be respected as such. His artistic ambition specifies what he’s best at nevertheless. When speaking on pure bars — who strings together the best similes, flows, and lyrical creativity — mark J. Cole as an S-tier qualifier. Yet across his catalog, his albums feature songs full of good-enough energy. The instrumentals are good, but lack tempo diversity or enveloping soundscapes. Additionally, they play it safe more often than not. The shelf life for a Cole album hinges upon how many songs he decided to polish to completion. Not every track has to be a hit.
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However, there always need to be a handful of songs that represent your album going forward. And in spite of this record having many good songs, there simply aren’t many great songs here. Cole’s verse penmanship overshadows those of his hook, bridge, and pre-chorus penmanship. As fresh as tracks like “amari” and “applying.pressure” are in the moment, their limp structures hammer them into 2021. Thus leaving fans thirsty for bars soon after this release. Fleshing out songs keeps ears, even the nay-saying ones, on repeat. The J. Cole super fans will ignore this. And they should. Because a lot of people stan artists who not only cycle a poor message but also don’t care about hip-hop. J. Cole performs neither of those actions. At the very least, he is an admirable human being.
All I’m saying is: If you want an album in your catalog to hold up against other contemporary hip-hop feats such as If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, good kid, m.A.A.d city, The Life of Pablo, or LIVE.LOVE.A$AP, what is your album offering sonically we cannot receive from your peers? Not the dudes who can’t spit or push units on par with Cole. His direct peers. Start to finish, The Off-Season becomes the easiest listen for me from his discography. When I put this record on, I don’t dread a certain song like I do on other albums. Yet another question is: Why do the best bars on the album come on the intro (“95.south”) and a song that dropped a year ago (“the.climb.back”)? While this is J. Cole’s most satisfying effort in seven years, it suffers from familiar symptoms. His talent continues to and always will shine, but his craftsmanship has room still to grow.
