Jermaine Cole, better known in the rap industry as J. Cole, has produced many albums in his over a decade of work, but the album from him that I have chosen to review is his 6th studio album, named The Offseason. The LP is named after the common sports term “off-season,” during which an athlete has a break from the regular season but is still honing their skills and improving their game. This piece is widely regarded as his best work, as it is very concise with his song choice and length, which I believe is always a good choice for albums. The term “less is more” is extremely applicable here on this 12-song album, as it has a run time of a little over 39 minutes. J. Cole has, in my opinion, no misses on this album; I find myself heading back to each and every one of these songs.

Starting with a phenomenal opening track, “9 5 . s o u t h”. This track is cleverly named 95. South, due to the two artists Cam’ron and J. Cole living off of this interstate. 95. South is a beautiful opening track for this album; it sets the tone for the entire album, the fact that J. Cole is not messing around with this album and he is bragging and boasting about his career in comparison to others in the rap game who flaunt a much worse discography. I would give 95. south an 8.6/10. Next up is the track, “a m a r i”, and this track is named after labelmanager and Ibrahim Hamad’s son, Amari, who is also labelmate Bas’s nephew. On this track Cole is describing his quick ascent to fame in the rap world, and using terms like “made it out”, “plotting escape”, and “never fell out with my bros” shows how Cole escaped from his tumultuous life in North Carolina but never cut ties with his family and friends. My favorite part of this song is the outro, Cole produces a phenomenal vocal performance to end a very aggressive and meaningful song with a soft and melodic tone, and somehow it works wonders for this track. Overall, I would give “a m a r i” an 8.2/10. Now onto the most popular song off of The Offseason, “m y . l i f e”, a song with 21 Savage and Morray. On this track, Cole, Morray, and Savage all discuss and speak on their hard upbringings in the hood, and they talk about how the only reason they are succeeding is due to their perseverance and determination to not be like everyone else. They also talk about what their life would look like if they didn’t succeed in the rap game. My favorite part of this song is the chorus with Morray and J. Cole; it is again very beautifully produced and a nice break from the normal aggression and strict tone of voice. I would give this song an 8/10; even though this is the most popular track on this album, I do not believe it to be the best. The 4th track on this album is named “a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e”, and on this track Cole raps his heart out. Cole puts on a tremendous lyrical performance by almost rapping for a minute and a half. On “a p p l y i n g . p r e s s u r e,” Cole “applies pressure” in two ways: first, by exposing broke rappers for flaunting wealth they don’t have, and second, by demonstrating his skills on the mic with rapping for most of the song. My favorite lyric from this track is when Cole rhymes online with benign, “That’s why when ___ throw a shot or two online, I pay no mind to their benign gestures (Mm).”. I think this is an extremely creative use of two words that most wouldn’t think could rhyme due to their difference in spelling. Overall, this song is another track about how Cole is better than most rappers who “flex” more than him; this being the 4th track in a row where I feel that he is trying to get this message across is a little redundant. That being said, I would still give this track a 7.4/10. The 5th song on this 12-song album is named ​​”p u n c h i n ’ . t h e . c l o c k”. On this song, Cole talks about how he has spent all of his time “punching the clock” or working to get better and hone his abilities on and off the mic. This track is extremely well done, starting with a very fitting sample from past Trailblazer Point Guard, Damian Lillard, talking about what he has done to better himself during the offseason and how to win in the regular season, and in the playoffs it starts in the offseason. On this track, Cole speaks AGAIN about his success and how rich he is, but he doesn’t flaunt it like other broke rappers who are lying about their wealth. Now this narrative is getting pretty repetitive, but these songs are still phenomenally made, and that streak does not end with “p u n c h i n ’ . t h e . c l o c k”. My favorite bar from this track is easily at the beginning of the first verse.

“Back on top, punchin’ the clock, clutchin’ sanity
I got more cribs than Habitat for Humanity
Shit profound, we propagating more profanity
Paid off collections from recollections of calamity”

Here he rhymes sanity with humanity, then profanity and calamity, with all of these lyrics relating to each other, which is extremely impressive writing. This is my favorite song on the album so far; I would give it an 8.8/10. My only gripe with this song is that it feels a little unfinished; it has me wanting so much more.

Next up on the album is one of the more underrated songs on this LP, “1 0 0 . m i l’ “. This song is pretty clear about what Cole is speaking about; he is talking about how even though he is extremely successful in life and the rap game as a whole, he still works harder than most, “100 mil’ and I’m still on my grind.” Cole is using whistles and quick beats in this to keep the listener on their toes, which I think is a much more welcomed switch-up than usual. I would give this song a 7.5/10; although I have very high praise for this song, it can be seen as repetitive in it’s lyrics and is a short song as a whole. Halfway through this album, next up we have one of my favorite tracks on this project, “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l”, featuring Lil. Baby. This is a classic modern rap track from these two extremely popular artists; it is exactly what you would expect from a Lil. Baby feature, which isn’t always a bad thing. On “p r i d e . i s . t h e . d e v i l,” Cole discusses one of the seven deadly sins, pride, and how it drives the behavior of both himself and others. He also appreciates the fortune of being successful and living to see ages that many of his friends did not. For this record, Cole recruits Lil Baby, who discusses his wealth, former life of drugs, and responsibility to the people he grew up with. My favorite lyric on this song is when Cole states, “It got me feeling different when somebody said they were proud of me.” This bar clearly gets his point in this song across. Another point of success with this song is when Lil. Baby taking over for Cole in the middle of rhyming is absolute gold, Lil. Baby flows right where Cole leaves off, and it is one of the best switches of voices I’ve ever heard. I have very much fallen in love with this track; I constantly find myself coming back to this song. I would give this song an 8.9/10. Next up is a track that may hit close to home for many black fathers; it is named “l e t . g o . m y . h a n d”. On this track, Cole talks about his life as a rapper and the ups and downs that come with it. He also mentions that to be successful, you must persevere through the doubts that will come with life. Although perseverance is a big topic in this song, the more heard topic is the fears he has as the father of two black sons growing up in a world full of racism and violence. The song’s title is derived from a time when Cole’s firstborn asked him to let go of his hand so that he could walk on his own, and this is something that I believe all fathers can relate to. My favorite part of this song comes within the first two seconds of the track; it is a quick drum beat that is quite original and is a nice way to start such a poetic and meaningful song. This is again one of my favorite songs I’ve honestly ever heard. It has a mix of meaningful lyrics, raps, rhymes, and a beautiful beat to complement it. I would give “l e t . g o . m y . h a n d” a 9.4/10; my only gripe is that it is just too short. Up next is an interlude, named accordingly, “i n t e r l u d e”, but it is not your average long-winded instrumental interlude; it is a brief and quick rap track that has Cole elaborating about his rise to the top of the rap game, how it took his entire life, and all of his dedication to get to this point. This was actually the teaser track to this album, coming out 11 hours before the album did. “i n t e r l u d e” is another absolute banger of a track and has a gorgeous melody coming in the beginning and lasting throughout the entire track. On this song, Cole talks about the personal trauma that he had to grow up with and how living and succeeding even with these setbacks has made him a better man for it. I would give this track an 8.6/10.

Now onto the 10th song on this LP, “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k”, one of the few songs on this album that I do not have saved. This is not due to it being a bad song; I just do not find myself ever coming back to it, and overall it is not very memorable. On “t h e . c l i m b . b a c k”, Cole speaks on rediscovering his love for rap and again speaks on his traumatic adolescence. A fun fact about this track is that he actually teased it in an essay that he published two days before releasing this album. In this essay, he talks about critical periods of his life and the persistent obligation to achieve his goals. In the essay, he uses the word climb multiple times, which people perceive as him alluding to this track. Im sure this is a very meaningful track to J. Cole, but it does not stick with me. I would give it a 7.2/10. Next up is another track that I find myself loving every time I hear it, “c l o s e”. This track starts out with a beautiful sample and a heaven-like voice to start a violent and sad song. On this track, Cole speaks about a good friend from his hometown in North Carolina that succumbed to gang life and drugs, and it ended up costing J. Cole’s friend’s life. On this song, Cole tells the story of him finding out about his friend’s death and how he felt about it beforehand. Cole felt like it was a long time coming due to the fact of who he hung out with and the drugs that he dealt and did. A lyric on this track that truly sticks with me is “‘Cause I ain’t tryna be an almost, when I get it, I’ma float.”  This truly culminates all of Cole’s feelings about his early life in one quick lyric. Cole is stating how he wants to be different than all of the other gangsters and drug dealers from his hometown; he is also saying how he doesn’t want to take shortcuts in life because it will not lead to success. This song is truly one of the best storytelling I’ve ever heard in song form. If I could recommend one song to a new listener, it would be this one. I would give it a 9.6/10. Truly a gorgeous track. Finally, the last song on this album is named​”h u n g e r . o n . h i l l s i d e”. On this track, Cole speaks on how fame and fortune will not change who he is at heart and will not change his character, so if he loses it all he isn’t worried; he won’t change. This track has another gorgeous beginning and has to be heard to understand its true beauty. On this track, I feel like Cole is really getting a lot off of his chest, saying how in this industry there are a lot of fake people, but this is not the case with him. I would give this gorgeous piece of work a 7.9/10. The overall theme I got from this album is about Cole’s path between his two homes, Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Queens, New York. It begins with “9 5 . s o u t h,” which refers to driving southbound on I-95, the interstate connecting the two. The narrative ends with this song, referring to Hillside Avenue, a street in Queens. Interestingly, Cole would have to travel north to get there from North Carolina. This album is still one of my favorite albums I’ve ever listened to. It has a mix of hard rap with features from 21 Savage and Lil. Baby, but it also has meaningful and melodic tracks produced by J. Cole and Bas. My overall score I would give to this album would be an 8.34/10, with my favorite and highest-rated song being “c l o s e” due to it having one of the best storytelling I’ve ever listened to.