As the world awaits the release of his highly-anticipated sixth studio album The Off-Season, set to drop this Friday, J. Cole stopped by Power 106’s L.A. Leakers to freestyle over a pair of rap classics: Mike Jones’ “Still Tippin’” and Souls of Mischief’s “93 ’Til Infinity.”
Cole led things off by rapping effortlessly over Souls of Mischief’s hard-hitting classic, before bodying the beat of the Swishahouse crew’s 2004 anthem “Still Tippin’.”
The pair of freestyles arrive amid a busy week for Cole. After sharing “Interlude,” the first single from his upcoming album, last Friday, the 36-year-old North Carolina rapper kicked off this week with the release of his new documentary Applying Pressure: The Off-Season. Then, on Tuesday, he became the first rapper to grace the cover of Slam magazine, as he chopped it up with Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins and discussed where his mind is at as he prepares for what may or may not be the last leg of his music career.
During the extensive interview, Cole explained the inspiration behind The Off-Season’s title, comparing his career to that of a basketball player.
“The Off-Season symbolizes the work that it takes to get to the highest height,” Cole explained. “The Off-Season represents the many hours and months and years it took to get to top form. Once you get to the season, it’s too late to get better. You’ll get better naturally, but what you know is what you know. You’re getting that shit off in the off-season. So, that’s really what [the title] represents. It represents the time spent getting better and pushing.”
While acknowedging that he’s entering a later stage of his career, Cole maintained that he has no plans of slowing down.
“I’m doing all this work to be at peace with, if I never did another album, I’m cool,” he explained. “That’s the reason for all of this, so I know that I put everything on the table. I left everything on the table, and I’m good with that. Because there’s a lot of shit I want to do with my life and in my life that, because I have such an intense love and passion for the craft, if I don’t let that go, I’m not going to be able to get to these other things that I also want to learn and grow and be good at.”
Watch J. Cole’s L.A. Leakers freestyle up top, and for more information about The Off-Season check out the video below:
