![]() The 12-track tape is at once a testament to his actual rhyme skill and the reverence he’s earned within hip-hop. Cole, whose career has long been informed by both basketball metaphor and actual basketball playing (in May 2021, ESPN reported that Cole had joined the Basketball Africa League's Rwanda Patriots BBC), has crafted his The Off-Season mixtape in the same mould, affirming that if he’s done anything in the time since 2018’s KOD album, it’s get even better at what he does. Album DescriptionFor athletes of both the professional and amateur ranks, the time between seasons is an opportunity to recuperate and to sharpen their tool set for the next run. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. It's a special work, one that might require several thorough spins - across a long stretch of time - to be fully appreciated by those who love Cole's hit singles. Mostly slow and nuanced, cooked up with a crew of well over a dozen co-producers, they involve instrumental help from the likes of trumpeter Theo Croker, guitarist Steve Lacy of the Internet, and keyboardist Masayuki Hirano. ![]() Cole's predominant scarred yet resolute feeling, perfectly conveyed in his downward, furrowed gaze in the album's promotional images, is likewise reflected with the productions. Most moving and forthright is the closing title track, nine minutes of grimly focused reflections from multiple vantage points. ![]() One track regards an unjustified SWAT raid on a house he rented for recording, leaving him feeling targeted, "Even when the president jam your tape." There's a moment of levity and sweetness throughout "Foldin Clothes," where Cole enthusiastically handles some domestic duties, while the two parts of "She's Mine" regard, respectively, his wife and daughter. Cole also draws from some aspects of his own life. Told in the first person, most of its tracks trace the life trajectory of Cole's slain friend, as someone who dealt drugs, changed course after falling in love, and died at the age of 22. Released on short notice and with minimal hype, it's another one without guest verses, and his leanest yet. Cole's fourth album arrived exactly two years after 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs. ![]()
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January 2023
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