Nearly three years ago, J. Cole first teased his mixtape The Off-Season in his “Album of the Year†freestyle, in between boasts about his prior studio album, KOD. Now it’s finally time for Cole to take The Off-Season off the bench, with the rapper announcing that the project will be out May 14. “Just know this was years in the making,†he tweeted along with the cover art, calling The Off-Season an album. Cole had more recently been teasing his new album The Fall Off, releasing “The Climb Back†and “Lion King on Ice†as its first two singles in July 2020. (They followed his misdirected Noname diss “Snow on Tha Bluff.â€) In the description for the “Album of the Year†video, Cole wrote, “The Off Season coming soon… All roads lead to The Fall Off,†seemingly setting up The Fall Off to follow The Off-Season.