Videos

J. Cole: Applying Pressure (‘The Off-Season’ Documentary)

blame it on Shake May 10, 2021

In case you’ve been living under a rock, J. Cole is finally dropping his new album, The Off-Season, this Friday (5/14). A project that’s years in the making, the Fayetteville legend keeps things in motion with the release of an accompanying documentary called Applying Pressure.

Starting with a studio session with 21 Savage, Cole breaks down how The Off-Season came about. “Do you really wanna look 10-20 years from now with this music sh*t, and be like the reason you didn’t make it was the work. That’s where The Warm Up came. Every day, I woke up, I wrote verses and made beats. The Off-Season was the same concept,” he explained. “One more time before I leave, before I feel fulfilled in this game, let me try to reach new heights from a skills standpoint. I really tried to work on my craft, reach new heights and push myself.”

From battling laziness and getting too comfortable, the 12-minute doc finds Cole readjusting the way he attacks the recording process, speaking on fatherhood and the extra drive it brought on, overcoming self-doubt, the reasoning behind his crazy feature run (which we compiled in our J. Cole: Batting .1000 playlist), and more.

Check it out below, hit replay on “Interlude,” and get ready for The Off-Season this Friday.