Tomorrow night, ten years of hard work from J. Cole will finally culminate when he puts out The Fall-Off. It’s an album we first heard about when KOD dropped way back in 2018 and since, has been a constant on fans’ minds through every project Cole has released.
Ahead of the drop tomorrow night, Cole has unveiled the official track list for the LP, plus the concept of each disc.
On his Inevitable blog, Cole writes that this album brings some of the skits from his 2007 mixtape The Come Up full circle. The first disc, called Disc 29, is about him returning to North Carolina as a 29-year-old and being at a crossroads between his partner, his craft and his city. The second disc, Disc 39, is about a similar trip home, this time as a 39-year-old, with a different, wiser perspective on things.
In the post, he also confirms that the album was made with the intention of being his last album. His wording his specifically not confirming that it will actually be his last album, though.
Check out the track list below, plus the entire blog post. Each side has 12 tracks.
Some of the very first verses for The Come Up were written when I was just 19 years old. The title of that project, the first one that I would ever release, had a double meaning. There was the obvious one; my ambitions to “come up” in the rap game. The second was more subtle; my physical change of location to do so. I was a delusional teenager from Fayetteville, North Carolina who had decided to leave home and “come up” to New York City on a dream-chasing mission. When you listen to that project you hear a college kid with a real sharp pen, telling the world how he’s going to make it and proudly put his unknown city on the map in the process.
Towards the end of The Come Up, a couple skits tell a common story for me at that age. Me, driving back home from school on a holiday break, calling my mom to let her know I’m a few hours away, then calling my homeboys, excited to let them know I’m back in town, asking where the party at?
The Fall-Off, a double album made with intentions to be my last, brings the concept of my first project full circle.
Disc 29 tells a story of me returning to my hometown at age 29. A decade after moving to New York, accomplishing what would have seemed impossible to most, I was at a crossroads with the 3 loves of my life; my woman, my craft, and my city.
Disc 39 gives insight into my mindset during a similar trip home, this time as a 39 year old man. Older and a little closer to peace.
Without giving away too much more, here is the back cover of The Fall-Off. All pictures in this version of the album were shot by me. The front and back cover are photographs I took when I was 15. This back cover, that includes the tracklist, is a picture I took of the walls in my bedroom at the time. Thank you to every artist and photographer that cleared these pictures. I woke up every morning as a teenager quite literally looking up to yall. When this album releases please know that you, in some deeper metaphysical type way, are in the music too.
The Fall-Off 2/6/26
Cole
