J. Cole Announces New Album ‘The Off-Season’

J. Cole will release his next album, The Off-Season, next Friday, May 14th.

The rapper announced the new LP on Twitter Tuesday, May 4th, sharing what’s ostensibly the album cover and a short note, “Just know this was years in the making.” No other additional information, such as a track list, was immediately available.

Just know this was years in the making.

My new album The Off-Season available everywhere 5/14 pic.twitter.com/aBw4po8fvx

— J. Cole (@JColeNC) May 4, 2021

The Off-Season will mark J. Cole’s sixth studio album and follow his 2018 offering, KOD, as well as the 2019 Dreamville Records compilation, Revenge of the Dreamers III.

Last year, J. Cole released a pair of tracks, “The Climb Back” and “Lion King on Ice.” At the time, he said the two tracks would appear on his next album, then titled The Fall Off; it’s unclear if they’ll now appear on The Off-Season, or if The Fall Off remains a separate project to be released later.

Prior to dropping “The Climb Back” and “Lion King on Ice,” J. Cole released “Snow on tha Bluff,” which arrived in the middle of last summer’s uprising against police brutality and systemic racism. The song appeared to be, in part, a diss track aimed at Chicago rapper Noname. Noname responded with “Song 33,” a track she later admitted she was not proud of releasing, while Cole also walked back his criticisms of Noname.