Earlier today (May 19), Summer Walker unveiled a new EP titled CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE, a nine-song body of work that serves as the sequel to 2019’s CLEAR. In addition to a feature from Childish Gambino, J. Cole makes an appearance on the standout cut “To Summer, From Cole (Audio Hug)” — a track that he also co-produced alongside Wu10. Bookended by a simple-yet-infectious hook from Walker, the North Carolina talent uses an impressive verse to both give his Atlanta counterpart her flowers and provide listeners with an update on his long-awaited album, The Fall Off.
“I’m thinkin’ about ya, I heard you just had you another lil’ baby, congratulations, I hope you got through it with no complications, I find it amazing the way that you juggle your kids, the biz, the fame, the b**ches that’s hatin’, they sit around waitin’ for you to fall off, like the album I’m makin’…”
Fans first got wind of Cole’s seventh studio LP via “1985 (Intro to ‘The Fall Off’),” a boom-bap offering from 2018’s KOD. Since then, the Dreamville head honcho released a slew of solo and collaborative drops, including 2019’s Revenge of the Dreamers III and 2021’s The Off-Season. Loose singles during that time period like “MIDDLE CHILD,” “Snow on tha Bluff,” “Lion King on Ice,” and “procrastination (broke)” were also thought to be taken from the near-mythical effort.
As previously reported by REVOLT, Cole penned an essay in 2020 that seemed to allude to The Fall Off as his final album, detailing “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.”
“The seeds for The Fall Off were planted,” he eerily wrote.
Check out Summer Walker and J. Cole’s collaboration — along with a full stream of CLEAR 2: SOFT LIFE — here.