The Off-Season is the hip-hop album of the year at iHeart Radio Music Awards 2022.
The annual iHeart Radio Music Awards took place earlier tonight at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, which was hosted by the legendary LL Cool J. While Drake was given the Hip-Hop Artist of the year at the ceremony, his “In The Morning” collaborator J. Cole was also honoured with a big award.
Certified WINNER boy! 🔥👏 Congratulations @Drake on winning “Hip-Hop Artist of the Year!” #iHeartAwards2022
Watch our 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards tonight at 8/7c only on @foxtv! pic.twitter.com/nEBHYwj77e
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) March 22, 2022
Jermaine Lamarr Cole won the iHeart Radio Music Award in the Hip-Hop album of the year category, with his most recent sixths studio album “The Off-Season“. The album was one of the best rap projects of last year, with guest appearances from Morray, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, Bas, and 6lack.
The album moved 282,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, which earned him his sixth consecutive number-one project on US Billboard 200. The album had one of the largest streaming weeks of 2021, accumulating over 325.5 million streams.
.@JColeNC is always on his A-game, even in “The Off-Season” 🔥😉 Congratulations on taking home the award for “Hip-Hop Album of the Year!” #iHeartAwards2022
Watch our 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards tonight at 8/7c only on @FOXTV! pic.twitter.com/uZfG5pQC4R
— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) March 22, 2022
J. Cole’s “The Off-Season” also earned him several nominations at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, which includes Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance and Best Melodic Rap Performance. This year’s annual Grammy Awards will take place next month at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Cole is now all set to perform at Dreamville Festival 2022, which will take place on April 2nd and 3rd on Dorothea Dix Park. The fest will have performances from JID, Bas, EarthGang, Lil Wayne, Kehlani, Jeezy, Lil Baby, Fivio Foreign, Morray, Moneybagg Yo, Wale, and more.
In other news Lipa was not present, hence the most important category was not delivered on-air. However, three of the other top winners were in attendance to claim their awards: Olivia Rodrigo for female artist of the year, Lil Nas X for male artist of the year, and Silk Sonic for best duo/group of the year. It was all three artists’ first win in that categories.
In accepting his prize, Lil Nas X stated that he was “delusional” to believe that he could drop out of school and make it famous, come out of the closet at the pinnacle of his career, and create a song about homosexual lust (“Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”) and have it become a blockbuster success. “It’s OK to be delusional when you’re chasing your dreams,” he concluded.
