Album Review: The Fall Off

J. Cole's album cover, with him wearing a denim jacket, stands against a vibrant red backdrop, exuding a moody, introspective vibe, while the parental advisory label signals the thematic depth. Courtesy: J. Cole

“For the past 10 years, this album has been handcrafted with one intention: a personal challenge to myself to create my best work. To do on my last what I was unable to do on my first.”

These are words J. Cole said across social media ahead of dropping what is supposed to be his final body of work. Jermaine Lamarr Cole - best known as J. Cole - has been building up to this exact moment of his career for a decade. Dating all the way back to the songs released ahead of his 2016 album 4 your Eyez Only, “False Prophets” and “Everybody Dies” were both intended to be a part of THE FALL OFF. In 2018, when Cole released his album KOD, the outro was titled “1985 (Intro to 'The Fall Off').

”It had an initial teased release window of 2020, before COVID delayed it further. Fast forward another half-decade, several mentions of the album in lyrics, and now J. Cole has finally graced us with the album meant to close this chapter of his life and his rap career. In all fairness, Cole did say he didn’t know how long the process would take to get to this point. In his own words, “I had no way of knowing how much time, focus, and energy it would eventually take to achieve this, but despite the countless challenges along the way, I knew in my heart I would one day get to the finish line. I owed it first and foremost to myself. And secondly, I owed it to hip hop.”

Now, I am a massive J. Cole fan. He was the first rapper I ever listened to, and in turn, a major reason as to why I love the genre. His lyrical prowess mixed with his storytelling and his ability to maintain being relatable throughout it all was always so impressive to me. So knowing that his final album would be coming was almost surreal. You expect your favorite show or your favorite band/artist to be around forever, but you know at some point it has to end. But you hope that the moment never comes. No artist - less than 1% if any - have ever stayed on top and active forever. A Fall Off is something that is naturally bound to happen. It’s inevitable.

To announce your final album as a double album, I was at first concerned. That was until I heard his explanation that he posted a couple weeks ahead of its release. He said in an instagram post that “Disc 29 tells a story of me returning to my hometown at age 29. 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.”

And just like that he sold me on the idea. All that was left was for the music to release.

Which brings us to February 6th. The album was released on all streaming platforms. You start with “29 Intro,” which was just James Taylor’s song “Carolina in my Mind” playing for roughly a minute. An homage to his home of North Carolina, which itself is then followed up by “Two Six.”

The title itself references Cole’s roots in Fayetteville, North Carolina, specifically the local moniker 2-6, which comes from the Cumberland County code 026. “SAFETY” takes an interesting approach to the idea of his returning home. He, instead of approaching the idea directly, describes it from the perspective of his friends back home. These same themes extend into “Run A Train,” which is essentially the sequel to “SAFETY. ” They share similar topics, but now, it’s from Cole’s point of view.

“Poor Thang” explores how pride and environment can lead to self-destruction, as shown from the story in the first verse of a child committing a murder and essentially ruining his life, likely before it ever truly began.

“Legacy” is a song about regret. As I saw within a post on social media, It’s a song for anyone who has ever looked in the rearview mirror so long they almost crashed the car. A perfect description. “Bunce Road Blues” is a good song with a great sound. It features Future, interpolating Usher’s 1997 classic “Nice & Slow” and a beautiful verse by Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems.

“The Let Out” was when I noticed the change in sound, in which Cole is very melodic and uses his singing voice. The song itself describes the danger of leaving the club; purely about being in survival mode, no longer about the party, but about making it home. This is likely why the chorus repeats the question, “Will we survive the let out?”

“Lonely at the Top” is probably the best song encapsulating the idea behind the title of this album: The Fall Off. In this song, Cole grapples with the success he’s obtained over his career. He describes the feeling in the beginning of being disappointed in his favorites. He looked up to them for so long and all this time later, they are beginning to sound unmotivated. “'Cause where you supposed to look on days when you feel unmotivated? When all your heroes either disappeared or sound so deflated.

”Wishing you were back when you were looking up to your heroes and feeling disappointment in the fact you aren’t at the top of the mountain alongside them. You spend your whole time longing for a moment that turns out to be nothing like you’ve seen. And in that moment, you realize that you’re destined for the same fate of your idols. Because if the people you idolize fell off, there are good odds that it will happen to you, too. And so he explains the conundrum in short at the end of the song. “I never understood the phrase "It's lonely at the top," until I scaled that mountain all the way up 'til it stopped. And if you're ever blessed enough to make it to this spot, you'll see the ones you looked up to, unfortunately, had to drop. ” Falling off, unfortunately, is inevitable.

You’ll notice that, in the second half of the album, there is a distinct sound change. He appears to have gained more maturity, and that’s to be expected if we remember how he described the second disc to be in comparison to the first. This is shown in the first half of “39 Intro” before a phenomenal rap verse.

“The Fall off is Inevitable” could have been the outro to this album. Not since its 2001 counterpart (“Rewind” by Nas, who is one of Cole’s idols) have we seen someone take a song about their life and flip it completely in reverse. It is truly a masterclass in showcasing Cole’s ability to tell a story. Most of the middle of the second disc, Cole takes part in interpolating and sampling other classic records. “The Villest” samples Outkast (Elevators), “Life Sentence” samples “How it’s goin’ down” by DMX, and “Man Up Above” samples “Never Would Have Made it” by Marvin Sapp.

“I love Her Again” is a reflective storytelling track where J. Cole plays into the metaphor of hip-hop as a woman, tracing their relationship from youthful infatuation to disillusionment and, ultimately, reconciliation.

“What If” tells a story of what would’ve happened if 2Pac and The Notorious BIG would have spoken to each other before things went wrong; which despite being very unlikely, is a fun concept to think about.

“Quik Stop” details a very intimate moment of Cole meeting a fan at a gas station. The story within that song begins with just a regular stop for gas before it turns into a humbling exchange with a fan who explains how Cole’s music helped himthrough grief, homelessness, and loss. That moment reframes Cole’s own doubts, reminding him that his value isn’t tied to fame, money, or competition, but to the difference his words make in real people’s lives. This song brought me to tears on my first few listens. Then the album in full ends with “Ocean Waves,” a short outro lacking lyrical complexity but truly kinda giving a “roll credits/walk into the sunset” kind of ending.

This album truly feels like a love letter to his fans, his city, and all who knew him during his meteoric rise. I’m fairly certain this will be my album of the year and it is only February. It was like his Kobe Final Game but a full album. Although I wouldn’t say it’s his best album, it is absolutely perfect for what it is. If you were a Kobe fan, would you have been disappointed that he only put up 60 points in his last game, or would you be upset that he didn't break the scoring record? Or do you truly appreciate a masterclass performance from one of the greatest to ever do it? In my mind, I have no issue with the 60 points.