J. Cole's The Fall-Off has been a decade in the making; however, the cover is even older than the music itself. Via a resurfaced interview with Complex back from 2014, he chatted with the outlet back at his childhood home where his love for music began.
After watching, you'll come to realize that the artwork is actually a photo of his room which housed his first-ever beat machine that appears on it.
It's a cool origin story, one that Cole remembers like it was yesterday in the clip below. While holding a poster of the Fayetteville rap duo Bomm Sheltuh, he explains that he was huge fans of them growing up.
He tried to talk with them via email for a long time and after so many messages, they finally responded. Bomm Sheltuh invited the 14-year-old J. Cole to their show at a local skating rink, and during it, they allowed for fans to come up onstage and perform.
He shocked everyone and it led to the rap pairing to invite him to their studio. After seeing all of the cool machines that they used, especially the beat machine, Cole bothered his mom "every day for about a year-and-a-half" for one.
She eventually came through and got him a basic one back in 2000. However, he made the most of the sampler, and it inspired him to make his own beats and write his first songs. Cole definitely came from humble beginnings and it's why so many people enjoy his music and the messages he proclaims.
When Is J. Cole Dropping The Fall-Off?
In a way, if he wasn't gifted this beat machine about 20 years ago, we may not be getting The Fall-Off next month.
To be exact, it arrives on February 6. J. Cole announced it on Wednesday, January 14, dropping a trailer laying out the meaning of the album's title.
"Everything is supposed to go away eventually. You see this especially in show business with famous actors or musicians. And it’s like, 'Oh, this guy used to be famous, and then he fell off. What happened?'" the narrator begins.
"And they want to point to, 'They did this and this and they made some sort of mistake.' Instead of thinking that, look, it’s kinda crazy they got famous in the first place. So few people reach that level that yes, of course, it’s not gonna last forever because somebody else has to take that spot. And that’s how show business has been since forever. But no, they always want to say, 'That guy fell off.' They want to look down on him for just going through the natural cycle of rising and falling."
