J. Cole begins build up to final album with ‘The Fall-Off’ trailer and new single “Disc 2, Track 2”

The North Carolina rapper is prepping his swan song from albums after a lengthy career, including “2014 Forest Hills Drive” and countless singles.

J. Cole is ready to say goodbye, at least to making albums.

The North Carolina rapper gave fans some long-awaited breadcrumbs on Wednesday (Jan. 14) with the release of a trailer to his album “The Fall-Off.” In the clip, he can be seen washing his car, eating at a diner alone and more.

“Everything is supposed to go away eventually,” the narrator begins. “You see this especially in show business with famous actors or musicians. And it’s like, ‘Oh this guy used to be famous, then he fell off. What happened?’ And they want to point to, ‘they did this and this’ and made some kind of mistake. Instead of thinking that, ‘It’s kinda crazy they got famous in the first place. So few people reach that level, that, yes of course it’s not going to last forever. Somebody is going to take that spot.”

The narrator continues, “That’s how show business has been since forever. But no, they always want to say, ‘Oh, that guy fell off.’ They wanna look down on him, or look down at the natural cycle of rising and falling.”

Hours after the trailer’s reveal, Cole took to Instagram to share the first song from the project, “Disc 2, Track 2,” accompanied by a disclaimer stating that the album had been in the works for more than a decade with one mission in mind: to be Cole’s best album.

“I had no idea how much time, focus and energy it eventually would take to achieve this,” Cole wrote. “But despite countless challenges along the way, I knew in my heart I would one day get to the finish line. I owed it to myself, first and foremost. And secondly, I owed it to hip-hop.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cole World (@realcoleworld)

“The Fall-Off,” Cole’s long-rumored and speculated final album, follows his 2021 album “The Offseason” and 2024’s “Might Delete Later” mixtape. Since his days dropping mixtapes such as “Friday Night Lights” and “The Warm Up,” Cole has built a steady following to be recognizied as one of his generation’s most beloved rappers.

Time will tell if his swang song gives fans what they were hoping for.

“The Fall-Off” drops February 6.