J. Cole never stopped working, even when he stepped out of the constant spotlight. In his new documentary, Applying Pressure: The Off-Season, the Carolina rapper revealed that he spent some of his time away from the public eye to refine his skills behind the mic. “I put myself through drills,” he explained. “I really tried to work on my craft to reach new heights and push myself. That’s why I called it The Off-Season.”
Cole wanted to reignite the passion he had back when he was making early mixtapes like The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights. And leading up to the release of The Off-Season, he did something he hasn’t done in nearly ten years and delivered a fiery radio freestyle for the LA Leakers.
The freestyle is reminiscent of a time in Cole’s career when he was just a young, scrappy MC giving it his all in front of radio mics. So, in honor of The Off-Season dropping tonight, we turned back the clocks and ranked his best radio freestyles to date, from his “On Da Spot” freestyle with DJ Green Lantern in ’09 to his bars with the LA Leakers in 2021.
8. Bootleg Kev Freestyle (2010)
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Despite all of the accolades Cole has accumulated by 2021, he still feels like the down-to-earth guy he was in the early days, and this 2010 interview and freestyle for Bootleg Kev is a reflection of that. Talking about learning how to make beats, his love for basketball, being dismissive of Four Loko (as we all should), and how excited he was about his future after just signing to Roc Nation, he set the stage for the rest of his career. Rapping over Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind,” the freestyle is raw and unrefined, though, which moves it down this list compared to the more polished performances he delivered later in his career.
7. Tim Westwood Freestyle (2010)
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Freestyling on Tim Westwood TV, J. Cole is at his most raw form here. The growing pains are evident as he’s still learning how to perfect his delivery, mumbling the ends of some bars and trying to catch the beat again. As he previewed lyrics from songs like “2Face,” “Premeditated Murder,” and “Before I’m Gone,” which would drop four months on Friday Night Lights, you got the sense he was using this freestyle to practice his delivery and punchlines. The best thing this performance yielded was a chance to watch Cole sharpen his skill set in real time.
6. ‘On Da Spot’ Freestyle with DJ Green Lantern Round 2 (2011)
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Riding a high from the release of his debut album, Cole kicked back and delivered a very calm verse over Kanye West’s “Crack Music” beat. In just two minutes, he was able to string together a story about a girl who rejected him in high school because she liked drug dealers, which made him question his own self-worth. Then he connected that back to the theme of the “Crack Music” beat he was spitting over. The continuity of the freestyle is more impressive than the delivery or performance, a reminder that Cole’s storytelling gifts have been present since the beginning of his career.
5. DJ Enuff Freestyle (2009)
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This was a Cole who was still trying to make it to the league, looking fresh out of college as he sat down with DJ Enuff and traded bars with XV. Even at his young age, though, Cole came prepared. He stepped away from the braggadocio and lyrical gymnastics that radio freestyles usually yield, as he treated the session like it was his own song. Introducing himself as the “real from the ‘Ville,” he put on for his home of Fayetteville like he still does to this today. He even snuck in some bars from one of his earliest tracks, “Playground,” that didn’t make The Come Up. There are moments where Cole attempts to freestyle off the top, stumbling but testing his lyrical muscles anyway. Ironically, XV probably out-rapped Cole here, but first impressions aren’t everything.
4. Cosmic Kev Freestyle (2011)
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Leading up to the release of his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, Cole was still finding his footing in rap when he joined Cosmic Kev in 2011. He opened the freestyle with lines that would eventually become the intro of his song “Cole World,” and it’s clear that he was still working on perfecting his breathing and delivery. What Cole sometimes lacked in technicality, though, he made up for with energy. The freestyle is dotted with verses that we’d hear in songs off future projects—Cole even rapped the entirety of his song “Heavy” that would release on his EP Any Given Sunday—but the big highlight here isn’t just the bars; it’s the way Cole took every opportunity he received like it was his last. At this point in his career, killing a radio freestyle could take him closer to accomplishing his goals, and he delivered.
3. Funk Flex Freestyle (2013)
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On the eve of releasing his second studio album, Born Sinner, Cole entered the Hot 97 studios and freestyled for 11 minutes straight over various beats. At his most braggadocious, he backs up a declaration he made earlier that year about dropping Born Sinner the same day as Kanye West’s Yeezus, just to prove that he could hang with the legends. That confidence can be heard throughout his verses, especially in bars like: “Cole world, no cupid/Got drama with these niggas fronting like they so ruthless/ Ok I am supposed to like your record/ Cause you got a little record/ Tell me do that make you real. Or just real fuckin’ stupid.” He switches up his energy with the beat changes and raps about battling greed and the norms of Hollywood, themes he expands on in his next album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. As this freestyle shows, In 2013, Cole wasn’t aiming to make any friends.
2. LA Leakers Freestyle (2021)
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Cole has evolved as a rapper over the past decade, but this freestyle for the LA Leakers sounded like something ripped from a time capsule that was buried under his Queens apartment 12 years ago. As he alluded to in The Off-Season documentary, Cole wanted to bring back the energy he had during his mixtape days, and by rapping over the iconic “93 Till Infinity’’ beat, he does exactly that by paying homage to one of his songs, “Till Infinity,” from The Warm Up. He shows growth, though. His cadences are more refined, his flow is sharper, and you can see in his eyes that he’s ready to make his claim for the throne once more. He even breaks a sweat after sprinting through the freestyle, pointing out at the end that he forgot what it was like to spit on the radio. While ripping into Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin” beat, the performance is soured a little by a distasteful and unnecessary name-drop of convicted sex offender Bill Cosby, which took away from what was already a fantastic showing. Beyond a couple regrettable lines, though, the freestyle was a success. As part of a flawless rollout so far, Cole played into the motifs layered throughout the promotional assets Dreamville has been releasing for The Off-Season, building on a concept where he plans to deliver his best performances before hanging up his jersey for good.
1. ‘On Da Spot’ Freestyle Round 1 (Water Break Interlude) (2009)
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Timing was everything with this freestyle. Just a day after signing to Roc Nation, J. Cole showed up to DJ Lantern’s studio for an “On Da Spot” freestyle with something to prove, and he delivered with interest. In fact, the freestyle turned out so well that he felt the need to rip the radio recording and include it on his 2009 mixtape, The Warm Up. Despite some of the childish bars that reflected his age at the time, he kept a steady flow between beat switches, as he foreshadowed what he planned to accomplish as the first son of the Roc. The freestyle is full of punchlines that defined the era, like, “Tell them haters to rehab, kick rocks,” as Cole laid the foundation for the rest of his career as a major label artist. Even after signing the deal, he was humble about where he was in life at the time, joking that his new contract still didn’t offer him benefits like health care and dental. Hearing him attack the freestyle, though, you can tell he was self-assured. He already knew what he was destined to accomplish, and he rode that confidence for an unforgettable freestyle that documented a career-defining moment in real time.
