DELISA For his long-awaited 6th studio album, J.
Cole recruits 21 Savage as the pair goes 2 for 2 with “m y . l i f e .”
MEDIA I had to make a real decision. Are you okay with getting comfortable? Chillin,
mailing it in. Waiting around on inspiration. And when I thought about that feeling I was
like, Nah, I’m not cool with that.
DELISA: J. Cole’s latest release, aptly named ‘The Off-Season’ centers around Fayetteville’s
own reinvigorated approach to the rap game.
MEDIA: What I noticed was with that feeling of comfort, I was like, Damn, This
is the moment a lot of your favorite rappers hit a crossroad where they did what the fuck
they set out to do and the fruit of their labors work started working against them. That same energy
and that same passion that they put into their craft was gone and replaced with comfort.
DELISA He starts the track likening his persistence
to that of Memphis Grizzly star Ja Morant.
DELISA He continues with the bear metaphor mentioning
MLB baseball team The Chicago Cubs and their stadium, Wrigley Field to allude to the presumed
final installation in his career, ‘The Fall Off.’
MEDIA: I don’t wanna look back and have a big vault of music that I didn’t put out,
especially when it’s song’s that I love.
DELISA Back on the track, he shouts out the icon
Robyn Rihanna Fenty and her status as a trendsetter.
DELISA Fellow Fayetteville, North Carolina artist
Morray lends his faithful vocals for the track’s chorus to pay homage to Styles P and Pharoah
Monch’s historied cut, “The Life.”
DELISA 21 Savage opens his verse reflecting on his
rough upbringing and the murder of his friend, Johnny. He often memorializes his late friend
in his music, like 2020’s “Said N Done.”
MEDIA When you ask that question, you damn near makin’ me relive the moment. Shit I been through is real shit. This ain’t
no gimmick. I got shot 6 times. My best friend died in front of me. This shit is real shit.
DELISA The Atlanta rapper first linked up with J.
Cole for the sample-laden “a lot” that demonstrated the duo’s natural chemistry.
DELISA ‘The Off Season’ marks the end of Cole’s
featureless album run, a subject touted by fans and diminished by critics.
MEDIA You think the era that you grew up in drove you
to want to have the skillset you got? Hell yeah
Do you really want to look back and be like you didn’t work with nobody? No? Okay, so
start saying yes to some features.
DELISA: Back on the track, 21 rounds out his verse by slipping into a familiar pocket accompanied
by his signature adlibs.
DELISA The track is produced by WU10, Jake One and
Jermaine.
Jake One first worked with Cole in 2013 for “Mo Money (Interlude)” off Born Sinner,
which originally went to Drake.
DELISA WU10 linked up with Cole for 2020’s retrospective
cut, “Snow On Tha Bluff” that provided commentary for Cole’s take on the civil
unrest of the summer with a supposed shot at artist Noname.
DELISA Since the track’s release, the song has
jumped to the top of the Genius song charts and the basketball memes have been plentiful,
likening Cole, Savage and Morray to the 2006 Miami Trio.
DELISA If you want to learn more about “m y . l
i f e .” check out the song page on Genius.com MEDIA
Where my durag at? Where's my durag? Cole sliding on that hoe!
DELISA: I’m Delisa with Genius News bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the music.