It’s a huge week for J. Cole with the release of his new album, The Off-Season, this Friday and a potential game in an international basketball league.

On Monday, the Dreamville rapper and label head released the trailer for his first album in three years, which he describes as his “the most ambitious” body of work.

“I really try to push my crafts to reach new heights from a skill level standpoint,” Cole says in the trailer. “I really just try to work on my crafts just to reach new heights and push myself, so that’s why I call it The Off-Season.”

After further explaining the album’s title to 21 Savage, Cole went on to explain what he noticed during his battle with complacency over the past five years.

“A lot of your favorite rappers hit a crossroad, where they did what the [heck] they set out to do and then the fruits of their labor started working against him,” he continues. “That same energy and passion is gone and…it was replaced by comfort and luxury.”

Cole said he’s been “sitting on” some of The Off-Season songs “for years, just tweaking and making them better. He also revealed his 2019 single, “Middle Child” was intended for a separate album, The Fall-Off.

“I still got more work to do on especially The Fall-off specifically. I got a few songs I need to write. I got more tinkering I need to do but the vision…I finally got this sculpted and I can see it.” 

Up next, J. Cole is currently in Africa to play in an international basketball game for the Rwanda Patriots, according to a tweet from The Rwandan newspaper, The New Times.

(Video contains uncensored profanity.)

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