The Fall Off Retrospective
By Mason Flores
Jermaine Lamar Cole, professionally known as J. Cole has inspired millions across the world throughout his two-decade long journey, and his legendary flows continued to evolve as he rose to fame. His newest project, “The Fall Off,” has been a decade in the making. This album is a story told from the perspective of his two selves, as the first disc is told from the perspective of 29-year-old Jermaine Cole, and the second disc coming from an older 39-year-old Cole.
Cole took to X to describe the first song on the double album “‘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…”
A sense of nostalgia fills the first disc. Cole brings his younger self to the light in the reflective project while looking back on his past and the choices he’s made as he starts to slowly lose himself. The second disc is more of a realization of who he was as a man and what he learned as he reached the top of his game. He brought himself to a familiar vulnerable state in the second disc and brought us into his world from a larger scale.
Disc 29, served as a glance into the world of his hometown “Fayettenam,” also known as Fayetteville, a city which holds so many different cultures and struggles as he has explained throughout his entire career. The intro “29 Intro” gave us a sample from James Taylor’s “Carolina In My Mind.” The fellow Carolina legend sets the tone for the disc as a nostalgic piece, it gives you a glimpse into “the let out” and what the kind of vibes were. You hear a group of people conversing and seeming to have a good time. As the song ends there were gunshots, Cole immediately shifts the focus to what happens where he is from.
As the first disc continues he flawlessly paints a picture of missing his town and his friends and what they have gone through while he’s been away.
He shows through the words of his friend on “SAFETY.”
“I heard big Mal died, and no I couldn’t tell you the cause, I know fentanyl’s been leavin’ brothers cross-eyed and things,” said Cole.
This captures not only the struggle of living in Fayetteville, but the struggle of living in America’s poverty-stricken areas. As the disc continues he lives through a young Cole’s perspective, a man driven by love for his passion for his craft, and his city.
As he sheds light on the issues of being a young man and having pride and insecurity, “Where **** die over pride and live for dough” (Poor Thang), he proceeds to point out the issues with young men in poverty areas and the hood, questioning why they feel the need to blame each other for their problems.
“I ain’t suggesting you fire your weapon at 12, but hell. Why in the F*** do we feel like that **** that’s looking like us that deserve to be killed?” says Cole.
He concludes his first disc with the theme of his love for his woman. As he realizes what he wants and what he has in front of him, he continues his strive for being the greatest rapper of all time. In his track “Lonely at the top,” Cole wishes for his idols to come back to the rap game as he feels unmotivated because of who he looked up to are not making music that is not up to par with what they have made previously. He explains how hard it is to stay on the top and understands that one day he won’t be on top forever and knows that the next generation is on the come up, Like he was when he made his first mixtape ironically titled “ The Come Up” in 2007.
Disc 39 opens with a theme of him being on the top of the mountain in the rap game, showcasing his relentless flows and that no one can ever challenge his talent and his spot at the top. He references the rap “beef” that he had with Kendrick Lamar, as he had apologized for making a diss track to Lamar. He then reflects on his life throughout “The Fall-Off is Inevitable.” A wiser, older Cole, shouts with belief in himself and the future of what the world will be. He supposedly finishes his career with a flash and a bang of who he is and who he was. This final album was a journey on how his values have changed through his experiences, and how he inspires the upcoming generation. Cole on his album “ I owed it first and foremost to myself. And secondly, I owed it to Hip Hop.”
Personally J. Cole has helped me so much along the way in my man hood, to my younger life as a 10 year old kid. Who had no father figure he was there to explain how it was ok and teach me how to present myself as a strong man. He taught me how to feel empowered, he taught me to be proud of who I am and will become. He taught us all to be proud to be human and gave the minority a voice. This album encapsulated his passion for music and poetry, it was the perfect conclusion to his career. I give this album the strongest of 9/10’s, it’s not perfect but if this is truly the end of your career J. Cole. It was the perfect end. Thank you Jermaine Lamar Cole.
