Zane Lowe clears up rumors about J. Cole’s ‘The Fall Off’ release date
Fans were hoping Cole’s next album would arrive today.
J. Cole’s fans were eagerly counting down the hours last night after rumors spread that his next album, The Fall Off, would be arriving today (Dec. 9). Cole dropped his previous projects Forest Hills Drive and 4 Your Eyez Only on Dec. 9, and speculation that he might continue the release pattern date was sparked after Zane Lowe’s Apple Music 1 show.
During his Tuesday (Dec. 8) segment, Lowe revealed that “something big” would be dropping at midnight and said the artist in question would be a guest on his show the following day. Due to the significance of the Dec. 9 release date and the long wait for The Fall Off, Cole’s fans believed Lowe was referring to the North Carolina star.
However, after Cole’s name began trending on Twitter, Lowe hopped on the platform to clarify his statement.
“I said, we can’t tell you who is releasing, so why not assume it’s your favourite artist,” Lowe tweeted. “It was a joke with the team. No mention of anyone specific. And I will say, I am not referring to him.”
Some fans thought Lowe was be bluffing; however, the editor-in-chief of DJBooth also denied the rumors. On Twitter, Brian Zisook confirmed The Fall Off was not on its way after speaking with Cole’s record label.
“I just spoke with Interscope. J. Cole is NOT releasing an album this evening, or anytime this month,” he wrote. Zisook also referred to a Twitter user who had shared a fake cover art for The Fall Off as a “clout-chasing liar liar pants on fire.”
Cole formally announced The Fall Off in 2019 with a presidential campaign-style promotion video, which he shared during his Day N Vegas Festival performance. So far, the rapper has shared “The Climb Back,” “Lion King on Ice” and a few other singles that are thought to be from the album.
In a recent The Players Tribune essay, Cole revealed that The Fall Off was originally conceived four years ago while he was living in his old apartment in Jamaica, Queens.
“For the next three months I would wake up in that old, familiar room, putting myself through morning writing drills before heading off to Electric Lady Studios with a short term plan to finish the 4 Your Eyez Only album before the arrival of my first child, and a long term plan of becoming the best rapper I could possibly be before hanging up my jersey, leaving nothing on the table when all was said and done,” he wrote. “The seeds for The Fall Off were planted.”
See Lowe and Zisook’s tweets — as well as some funny reactions from fans when they thought Cole’s album was dropping — below.