In mere days, J. Cole will unveil his sixth studio LP The Off-Season, his first official drop since last year’s Lewis Street EP. Following the album’s lead single “i n t e r l u d e,” the North Carolinian star made a visit to Power 106’s L.A. Leakers, and decided to obliterate the microphone with a slew of multi-layered, rewind-worthy bars over instrumentals for Souls of Mischief’s “93 Til Infinity” and Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin.” Here is but a sample:
“Rest assure the best is here in the flesh and that’s for sure, the rest should wear ‘em a vest, I’m set for war, nigga, press record, I send niggas to address the Lord, same flow that put your neck to sword, the same flow that just undress your whore, takeover, nigga, check the score, this is chess, better check your board, who gave the world more fire but got less reward?/”
It’s been three long years since J. Cole liberated his last official full-length KOD, which contained 12 tracks and, as the last couple of efforts before it, no features. It’s not like he needed any, either — KOD quickly shot to the number one spot on the Billboard 200 thanks to 397,000 first week album equivalent units, subsequently earning Cole a Gold record in the process. The following year, he led Dreamville artists Bas, Cozz, Omen, Lute, Ari Lennox, EarthGang, and JID with the third installment of their Revenge of the Dreamers series, another chart-topper that saw plenty of additional contributions from DaBaby, Young Nudy, REASON, Buddy, Guapdad 4000, Vince Staples, Ty Dolla $ign, and many more. A deluxe edition of Revenge of the Dreamers III later made landfall in 2020.
Press play on J. Cole’s L.A. Leakers freestyle below. The Off-Season arrives to the masses this Friday (May 14).