J Cole releases surprise new mixtape ‘Birthday Blizzard 26’
J Cole has returned with the release of a surprise new mixtape ahead of his seventh studio album.
Birthday Blizzard ’26 was released on January 28th to celebrate his 41st birthday, serving as a prelude to The Fall-Off. The project, hosted by DJ Clue, comprises four tracks and includes freestyles over other instrumentals.
Song titles include ‘Bronx Freestyle’, ‘Golden Goose Freestyle’, ‘Winter Storm Freestyle’, and ’99 Build Freestyle’.
The tape finds Cole rapping over classic Bad Boy instrumentals, including The LOX’s ‘Money, Power and Respect’ and ‘Can I Live’, Diddy’s ‘Victory’ and Biggie Smalls’ ‘Who Shot Ya’.
The project is available to purchase on his website for $1, with an option to pay nothing if fans decide against it.
Taking to social media, Cole wrote, “Birthday Blizzard ‘26 hosted by DJ Clue? 4 new freestyles available now on thefalloff.com @djclue.”
Jadakiss first teased the mixtape during an episode of his Joe and Jada podcast with Fat Joe, claiming Cole was rapping over some of his tracks.
“Shout out to J Cole,” he began. “He got a project coming out called The Fall-Off, and he got a mixtape where he used some of The LOX [beats]. He rhymed over ‘Money, Power and Respect’ and he rhymed over ‘Can I Live’.”
He added, “He killed them shits. Cole is coming back in a major way. When you hear his bars, all [the fallout from him dropping out of Drake and Kendrick Lamar battle] don’t matter. He’s coming crazy.”
Cole initially teased a prelude to The Fall-Off in a sketch years ago, which was then known as It’s a Boy. His long-awaited LP will be released on February 6th via Dreamville and Interscope, and is set to include the first single, ‘Disc 2 Track 2‘.