J. Cole announced his sixth studio album The Off-Season will arrive on Friday (May 14) and apparently, his zealous fans aren’t the only ones struggling with the wait.
On Thursday (May 6), the Dreamville Records powerhouse announced via Twitter he’d decided to release a single from the highly anticipated project called “interlude” on Friday (May 7) at midnight EST.
“Told myself I would drop the album all at once,” he wrote. “Sometimes you gotta say fuck it tho. New song tonight. 12 o’clock.”
Details surrounding the project are scarce, but Timbaland appears to have at least some involvement in it. On Wednesday (May 5), the veteran producer shared The Off-Season cover art in an Instagram post and hinted he’d contributed at least one beat.
“I told y’all the king has returned !!!!!” he captioned the post. “@realcoleworld @beatclub watch me work!!!!”
The Off-Season serves as the follow-up to J. Cole’s 2018 effort KOD, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon its release. But Cole hasn’t been completely elusive over the last three years. In July 2020, he dropped a two-song pack with “The Climb Back” and “Lion King On Ice.”
The two new singles were Cole’s first offerings since the controversial track “Snow On Tha Bluff,” which arrived the previous month. The song was presumed to be a response to Chicago native Noname, who called out “y’all favorite top-selling rappers” for not using their platforms to speak out about police brutality.