The Off-Season
by J. Cole

Here we go, J. Cole, everyone has something to say when his name is being brought up. Where does one even begin? He’s been one of the biggest names of hip hop for a decade now, probably the most polarising rapper of his generation. There’s a good chance someone will tell you he is better than Kendrick (or even sidestep any comparisons and proclaim him the G.O.A.T) or that he is worse than Drake ( no offense to Drake, it’s just that a surprisingly large amount of people that take part in such debates barely know another rapper, so these two are the most common points of reference, lol). As it happens more often than not in similar cases, in my opinion the truth lies somewhere in the middle - boring, I know. He is a good rapper, I wouldn't call that in question, but hardly anything beyond that, the word bland perfectly characterises him. I’d go as far as to say he’s been constantly deteriorating in that regard and here he may have reached his peak. Allow me a couple of flashbacks, In 2014 Forest Hills Drive he opened up, showing a vulnerable side of himself, using his own journey as a means to deliver some universal messages. It wasn't hard to spot some flaws, in an attempt to become relatable he did get too personal in an awkward way, but at least he tried – and the jazzy laid-back sound was ear-pleasing if nothing else. 4 Your Eyez Only saw him getting more ambitious, both in terms of production, where some modern touches were added to his typical sound, but mostly in terms of the narrative, featuring story arcs that don’t restrict themselves to one song, but unfold over the entire album. Again, saying he fell short of creating a masterpiece would be an understatement, but you couldn’t blame him that much. And then (fast forward to the present , conveniently skipping some of his "lesser" albums) came The Off-Season. The basic premiss of this record is obvious simply by looking at the title: he took his time during the off-season (it's noteworthy that the sport references remain a thing throughout the album, which are almost always a positive in my book) to prepare, improve, focus on his goal and come back better than ever. Well, after listening to this, it’s fair to say it did him more harm than good. Production wise, he’s fully immersed in a modern, kinda generic trap based sound, while his performance is also dangerously close to forgettable when it comes to either rapping or lyrics. So, yeah, all this quite possibly unnecessary and undoubtedly overly long introduction just to say that his previous albums displayed some effort, no matter how the final product sounded like, while this is disappointingly indolent.

The best J Cole album since 2014 forest hills drive IMO. Loved Amari

From VictorVale 06/03/2021 19:18 | #270343

Gostei que fugiu um pouco do padrão de rádios atuais, mas nada muito espetacular.

From tommylindsey 05/15/2021 09:19 | #269803

I want this man to put out a classic so bad but he just never does. His albums are always boring in my opinion (besides 2014FHD). I might bump the rating up a little bit later but for now this is where I'm at. I really do want to like Cole but, I'm just not a fan.

Best Tracks: Let Go My Hand, my life, 95 South & Pride is the Devil
Worst Tracks: 100 mil, amari & close

From Boltzmann 05/15/2021 08:35 | #269802

"Let's give J. Cole another chance"

*Starts rapping in the lyrical-spiritual flow on track 4*

"nvm"

*mentions Slim Shady*

"at least he's aware"

His flow sounds best when he's trying to imitate Young Thug and Lil Uzi, which is sad.

Production is garbage too.

From LebowskiRams 05/14/2021 17:25 | #269777

It's solid. Some really awkward production choices that take away from some great bars by Cole

From pjohnsongolf 05/14/2021 17:11 | #269775

I probably would’ve loved this 7 years ago