J. Cole has launched a model new EP out of the blue, confirming rumors that he had greater than only a new album on deck.
Hosted by mixtape kingpin DJ Clue, Birthday Blizzard ’26 options 4 fiery freestyles from the Fayeteville rapper who turned 40 years previous on Wednesday (January 28).
Impressed by the rugged, no-frills vitality of ’90s and ’00s New York hip-hop, the EP finds Cole flexing his razor-sharp rhymes over traditional beats like Biggie‘s “Who Shot Ya?,” Diddy‘s “Victory” and The LOX‘s “Cash, Energy & Respect.”
Birthday Blizzard ’26 is not only a show of spectacular penmanship, although; Jermaine Cole will get lots off his chest on the transient however braggadocious challenge.
On the opening monitor “Bronx Zoo Freestyle,” the Dreamville chief addresses the backlash to his apology to Kendrick Lamar in 2024 following their transient back-and-forth on “Like That” and “7 Minute Drill.”
“I was prime seed / The apology dropped me method out of the highest three / No downside, I’m most likely my greatest once they doubt me / Watch me,” he raps.
Cole additionally says: “The highest ain’t actually what I assumed it might be / And so I jumped off and landed again on the backside / And restarted at a stage the place I wasn’t thought to be a lot / Simply to climb previous ’em once more and inform ’em all to maintain up.”
Birthday Blizzard ’26. hosted by DJ Clue? 🥶🥶🥶
4 new freestyles obtainable now on https://t.co/NS7VjMFmQs pic.twitter.com/2N7JoHMtp6— J. Cole (@JColeNC) January 28, 2026
“Golden Goose Freestyle,” which borrows Black Rob and The LOX’s “Can I Dwell” instrumental, hears the North Carolina native weighing in on a number of the (alleged) shenanigans which have plagued the rap business lately.
“Plenty of rappers make dough then be susceptible to lose it / For crumbs, dumb n*ggas offered their soul to Lucian,” he spits, referencing the Common Music Group boss Lucian Grainge. “Common distribution however I personal the music / Greatest n*gga nonetheless respiration, leaving no confusion.”
He additionally units his sights on ghostwriting and streaming bots, rapping: “N*ggas dishonest and I received’t excuse it / If I mentioned it then I wrote it, silly” earlier than including: “If the streams say you’re profitable, why your excursions is shedding? / When the mathematics ain’t mathing, in fact you’re juicing / Meaning the bots is boosting, minimize the robust man picture it’s not conducive to respiration.”
Elsewhere, on “99 Construct Freestyle,” J. Cole exhibits main like to his Dreamville signee and occasional collaborator JID, who’s coming off a banner yr due to his critically-acclaimed, Grammy-nominated album God Does Like Ugly.
“If hip-hop is again, JID ought to chart platinum / Something lower than that it means y’all capping,” he declares. (It’s value noting that the Atlanta rapper has racked up a string of platinum and multi-platinum plaques in his profession, albeit for his singles and big-name collaborations.)
Birthday Blizzard ’26 is completely obtainable to buy at J. Cole’s web site, TheFallOff.com, the place followers can stream and obtain a duplicate for a minumum of $1.
The quickfire challenge serves as a warm-up for Cole’s long-awaited closing album The Fall-Off, which is about to reach on February 6.
