J. Cole may have had to start over with The Fall Off, and the reason reportedly ties back to the heated Drake and Kendrick Lamar fallout.
The highly anticipated project has been in the works for years, but recent claims suggest Cole’s rollout hit a major snag once the tension between Drake and Kendrick Lamar erupted earlier this year. The revelation came from Mal during a discussion on the Rory & Mal Podcast.
According to Mal, Cole initially recorded The Fall Off with features from both Drake and Kendrick — a pairing that quickly became unworkable once the two rappers’ relationship fell apart.
“Yes, Kendrick was on the album, and Drake was on the album,” Mal said. “Well, was, which is why we didn’t get the album, cause now he gotta do his whole album over.”
If Mal’s claim holds any weight, it could help explain why the album has gone quiet for so long. Cole has been teasing The Fall Off since at least 2018, yet in recent months he’s offered very little insight into where the project stands. He’s also mostly gone silent on social media since the controversy, adding to speculation that major changes may have happened behind the scenes.
So far, neither J. Cole nor his camp has confirmed whether the album was re-recorded. His latest project, Might Delete Later, dropped just before the beef hit its boiling point. At that time, hip-hop was already on edge following Kendrick’s “Like That” verse, and Cole briefly jumped into the mix with “7 Minute Drill,” a diss aimed at Kendrick.
The track was swiftly pulled, and Cole later issued a public apology at Dreamville Fest — a moment that sparked heavy debate about his place in the whole situation. As it stands, The Fall Off is still unreleased, and fans continue to wait, hopeful that the long-promised album will finally arrive.
