J. Cole has unveiled the first single from The Fall-Off just hours after officially announcing the album.
Released under the cryptic title “The Fall-Off… Disc 2 Track 2,” the drop hints that Cole’s long-awaited — and reportedly final — project may arrive as a double-disc release. The track is a vivid storytelling showcase, one that would earn approval from Nas himself.
Drawing inspiration from Esco’s “Rewind,” the North Carolina MC narrates his life in reverse over soulful, Southern-tinged production by DZL and Maneesh. Cole begins with his own death and legacy before rewinding through parenthood, marriage, career triumphs, and ultimately, his birth.
“My grandkids carried the coffin to the altar as they burst into tears from their shirts /
The tears rise to the sides of they face and into their eyes, it’s piercin’ with hurt /
Fast forward 60 years, I got verse of the year, my purpose is clear, it’s to murk /
Whoever dare flirt with death, the best alive and what you now hear is the work,”
he raps, sounding unfazed by the recent criticism surrounding his decision to step away from the Kendrick Lamar and Drake feud.
The song’s introspective weight is amplified by a clever visual directed by Ryan Doubiago, which moves backward through a series of rooms, mirroring Cole’s reverse-chronological reflection.
“The Fall-Off… Disc 2 Track 2” concludes with a bonus snippet of an unreleased record — likely from The Fall-Off — built around the same Whispers sample used in Mobb Deep’s 1996 2Pac diss, “Drop a Gem On ’Em.”
The video opens with a message detailing the philosophy behind The Fall-Off, which is scheduled for release on February 6 and is being positioned as J. Cole’s final album.
“For the past 10 years, this album has been hand-crafted with one intention: a personal challenge to myself to create my best work,” Cole wrote. “To do on my last what I was unable to do on my first.
“I had no way of knowing how much time, focus and energy it would take to reach that goal, but despite countless obstacles, I always knew I’d cross the finish line. I owed it first to myself — and secondly, to hip hop.”
Earlier Wednesday (January 14), Cole formally announced The Fall-Off with a brief but cinematic trailer that further frames the album’s themes.
“Everything is supposed to go away eventually,” a voice explains over scenes of Cole washing his Lamborghini and eating alone at a diner. “You see this all the time in show business — actors, musicians. People say, ‘He fell off. What happened?’
“They want to point to mistakes instead of realizing how rare it is to reach that level at all. Of course it won’t last forever — someone else has to take that spot.
“That’s the natural cycle. But instead, they choose to look down on someone simply for rising… and falling.”
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