J.Cole - The Off-Season

 

'The Off-Season', the sixth studio album from J.Cole, begins decently with the opening '95. South.' Over a serviceable instrumental, sampling Jay-z's 'U Don't Know,' J.Cole is humorously braggadocious. Anyone that tries to 'fuck with Cole' would be 'impeding on their health', as the North Carolina rapper 'could put an M right' on their heads, making them feel like 'Luigi.' Furthermore, the sampling of Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' 'Put Yo Hood Up' in the track's outro is a hyping force.

After the short and satisfactory track in 'Amari', J.Cole calls upon 21 Savage and Morray to deliver a sonically pleasant beam of perseverance in 'my. life.' Over a soulful vocal sampled instrumental, J.Cole is satisfyingly intense and passionate in his flow as he is 'spiralling up like a rich person's staircase,' rising from a family tree with a 'history of users that struggle with demons,' with some serving up 'rocks on the corners.' After the upliftingly soothing chorus by Morray, where he made it 'out of the struggle' and 'through the pain and strife', 21 Savage makes a delightful feature appearance delivering a stone-cold verse. Despite praying the past is not ahead of him, maybe the traumatic events like the death of his childhood friend 'Johnny' made a better him. 21 Savage also gives 'props' to his mother as she always protected him through such a troubled childhood.

Following 'applying pressure', J.Cole conveys violent imagery well  in ' punchin the clock.'  For instance, in his verse, he 'busted the trees, was barely strong enough to squeeze, bullets travelled through leaves, it probably killed somebody randomly.' Additionally, Cole delivers a compelling metaphorical critique on police brutality. Especially, through the lines 'Nightmare scenes, the police finally apprehended me, woke up screaming, seen a demon had his hand on me, still sporting the scar on my arm from where he branded me.' However, the sampling of Damian Lillard's post-game interviews in this track is contextually puzzling. I am struggling to understand how Cole's verse, in 'punchin the clock', correlate with the Lillard samples thematically. In '100 mil', despite on 'one hundred mil', Cole is still on the grind over a satisfactory production of strings and whistles. Unfortunately, Cole's hook here is uneventful and sonically pales in comparison to Bas' blissful outro.

With a lovely sample of the bassline from Amine's 'Can't Decide', Cole delivers one of the album's catchier choruses in 'pride is the devil' while intriguingly reflecting on his pride. His pride has left 'so many RIP.' In his verse following the first chorus, Cole concludes how pride can make him 'act way harder than he really be,' hide the shame when the city cut of all utilities, the pain of growing up inhaling poverty and the reason for a family dichotomy.' However, Cole is uncertain what happens if his pride is gone. ' Will he have anything, or will he be destroyed?' Sadly, Lil Baby's verse on this track is somewhat underwhelming.

Following 'let go my hand', which features a pleasingly rhythmic and jungle-flavoured production, the record reaches the short and sweet 'interlude.' The sampling of Tommy Parker's vocals and the punchy hi-hats makes for an enthralling instrumental. Meanwhile, the concerned Cole critiques the gun violence within America. He bears witness to the 'unbearable summers' made from the southern heat, making mothers weep as they do not 'want to bury' their sons, while 'TEC-9s' are airing out rebuttals.

Nearing the end of the 'Off-Season', the penultimate 'close' is an intense cautionary tale of the temptations of crime and drugs. A seemingly distraught Cole recounts the downfall of a close friend.  Cole's friend clouded his vision from 'every cigar he took' and the lean he sipped and yearned.  Eventually, Cole observed the traumatic event of his friend getting shot, his heart pumping like 'Usain Bolt.' 'The Off-season' finishes decently with 'hunger on hillside', a song of perseverance and self-authenticity that features soothing strings.

The lowlights are only slight, with Lil Baby's presence in 'pride is the devil', the confusing sampling of Damian Lillard's post-game interviews on 'punchin the clock' and the vocally uninteresting hook on '100 mill'. The 'Off-Season' is an intriguing piece despite those minor inconsistencies, fuelled by compelling reflections on gun violence, crime, trauma and self-pride and some stunning production moments. 

Best Track(s): my life, interlude, close

7.75/10