It’s been almost five years since J. Cole released ‘The Off-Season’, but he’s been teasing his new album, ‘The Fall-Off’ since 2018. How’s that for foresight? He finally announced the highly-anticipated album with a series of Instagram posts yesterday.
The 2-6
The project is slated for a February 26th, 2026 release date. (02/26/2026) The release date references his hometown roots of Fayetteville, NC, otherwise known as the 2-6. This is due to Fayetteville being located in Cumberland County which has the county code 026. It also apparently has some military meaning tied into the area. Coincidentally, he also released his first album, 'Cole World: The Sideline Story' (2011) at the age of 26.
"For the past 10 years, this album has been hand crafted with one intention:
A personal challenge to myself to create my best work. To do on my last what I was unable to do on my first. 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 finish line. I owed it first and foremost to myself. And secondly, I owed it to hip hop.
THE FALL-OFF
J. COLE"
