J. Cole has captivated fans with his new album The Fall-Off, and seeing them share that experience with him in person has been very great to see. For the latest edition of his "Trunk Sale" tour vlog, he at one point conversed with a colleague and opened up about how he sees this presumably final LP fitting into his discography.
However, the Dreamville rapper's comments about his catalog in this YouTube vlog has a hot take within that many Cole fans might raise their eyebrows at. Speaking specifically about his run of projects between 2016 and 2024, he said that he looks at them as "side quests."
"If you hear the whole progression from The Come-Up, The Warm-Up, Friday Night Lights, The Sideline Story, Born Sinner, 2014 Forest Hills Drive," Cole remarked, as highlighted by NFR Podcast on Instagram. "Those, then going into The Fall-Off, it's the progression of my whole life. To me, 4 Your Eyez Only, KOD, The Off-Season, and even Might Delete Later, those are side quests. 4 Your Eyez Only and KOD, concepts. The Off-Season and Might Delete Later is like practice. It's just lyrical exercise. It's just me practicing to get to The Fall-Off, which is the continuation of the J. Cole story. Jermaine's life story in the form of this J. Cole character.
"So when you hear me say, 'This a suicide note / Come here and look what I wrote,' it's me basically saying, I'm done with that," he continued. "I took you to the end. I took you to 29 years old, 'cause that's when Forest Hills Drive dropped. So I took you back to 29. Then I gave you the life update at 39. I don't have nothing else to say as Jermaine via J. Cole.
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"I'ma rap probably, I'll hop on a song probably. I might even f**k around. If I get inspired enough, I may do an album," J. Cole said of his career's future. "But I don't care to continue that story. The Fall-Off is a continuation of the J. Cole story. If you listen toForest Hills Drive, that's Jermanie via J. Cole. If you listen to 4 Your Eyez Only, that's not Jermaine via J. Cole. You listen to KOD, that's not Jermaine via J. Cole. If you listen to The Off-Season and Might Delete Later, that's just me practicing. You might get a little sprinkle here and there."
To celebrate this massive career bookend, J. Cole's going on tour with The Fall-Off. He will travel the whole world sharing this body of work, and it's compelling (albeit disagreeable, for some fans) to hear him connect it to the rest of his discography.
