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J. Cole continues to fuel hype for his highly anticipated album by sharing some powerful visuals for the double-album's first single.
Shortly after announcing The Fall-Off's release date on Wednesday, January 14, Cole dropped a music video for the second track from Disc 2 without revealing its title. He begins the video with a disclaimer for fans about why it took so long for him to release what he says is his "best work."
"For the past 10 years, this album has been hand crafted with on intention: a personal challenge to myself to create my best work," Cole began.
"To do on my last what I was unable to do on my first," he continued. "I had no way of knowing how much time, focus and energy it would eventually take to achieve this, but despite the countless challenges along the way, I knew in my heart I would one day get to the finsih line. I owed it first and foremost to myself. And secondly, I owed it to hip hop."
As soon as the beat drops, Cole delivers rhymes about seeing his life in reverse. He reflects on watching his loved ones say goodbye to him at his funeral as people catch the flowers they threw into his grave. He rehashes the lives his sons and grandkids lived from their adulthood to the beginning of their lives. He recounts his relationship with his wife from the time she was pregnant to the moment they met. From there, he recalls his fame and career all the way back to the beginning of his own life.
"I watch my father walk back in my life and it clears up a hurt I couldn't explain," Cole spits. "Momma gives me my name/Then hands me over to the doctor and I watch as my spirit reverts/Then, I'm no longer here on this Earth."
The song has yet to hit streaming services. J. Cole shared the preview just a few weeks before his seventh studio album is scheduled to arrive. The Fall-Off will drop on February 6.