Cole may have a potential album of the year candidate with his recently released album The Off-Season.

The rapper’s sixth studio album is a great follow up to his previous album KOD, which focused more on story telling than The Off-Season. This album is a much more upbeat and aggressive album, which focuses more on pure rapping and lyricism as opposed to catchy hooks and mainstream appeal. 

That’s not to say that there aren’t great singles off the album with plenty of replayability, though, as songs like “Amari,” and “Pride.Is.The.Devil” are great summer hits. 

Although much of the album focuses on rapping, North Carolina rapper and singer Morray delivers an incredibly powerful hook on “My.Life” which also features 21 Savage. This song is one of the best on the album, as it pairs Cole’s and 21’s verses about the hardships they’ve faced with the soulful singing of Morray to deliver a powerful song. 

Picking a worst song on the album is near impossible, as each track delivers its own unique positives, and no one song really outshines another. 

“Interlude” was released as a single leading up to the album’s release, and remains one of the best on the album. The high energy and non-stop rapping on this song signify what much of the album consists of. 

But the songs don’t ever get repetitive or bland, due to plenty of unique beat selections and great features from the aforementioned artists, as well as 6LACK, Bas, and Lil Baby. 

Lil Baby’s verse on “Pride.Is.The.Devil” is a strong contender for the best rapping feature on the album, and is one of the best features that’s come out this year. The Atlanta artist flows on the low-key beat masterfully, and matches the incredible energy that J. Cole brings to the song in his verse. 

This album is definitely one of Cole’s best projects, and is one of the best albums to come out of 2021. Fans can expect to be pleasantly surprised by the fresh sound that J. Cole brings in this album.