J. Cole talks Retirement, Basketball, The Off-Season, and more as he Covers Slam Magazine.
J. Cole is all set to drops his highly anticipated “The Off-Season” album this Friday and for the promo run, he becomes the first solo artist to feature on the Cover of Slam Magazine. J. Cole who recently dropped his song called “Interlude” and the Off-Season Documentary “Applying Pressure“, talks on various topics including Retirement, Basketball, The Off-Season in his new interview with Slam.
On the thoughts about retirement plans, he says, “After [2014] Forest Hills Drive, [that] was the first time I ever got that feeling. It was after I got off tour and I could breathe. I was like, Damn.” says Cole. “For the first time, I felt comfortable in a good way. I allowed myself to just chill, watch TV, play video games. Simple sh*t that ni**as do, but I don’t do. Sh*t that before I wouldn’t allow myself to do, because it was like, Yo, I got way bigger shit to do, way bigger fish to fry. I wouldn’t even give myself the pass of watching a whole [TV] series.”
thank you SLAM @SLAMonline https://t.co/B8F23JqCHs pic.twitter.com/RacsccqCc2
— J. Cole (@JColeNC) May 11, 2021
“I could tell, sometimes I would pick up the pen and write at that time. And I didn’t really have any real reason. I had just got off tour, there was no rush to do anything. But if I tried to pick up the pen, if I tried to make a beat, the sh*t would be uninspired.”
“Just like in basketball, what you see him do in the court, that sh*t was worked on in the summertime. So for an athlete, if they take their career seriously and if they really got high goals and want to chase them, the offseason is where the magic really happens, where the ugly sh*t really happens, where the pain happens, the pushing yourself to uncomfortable limits,” Cole says, motioning his hands as if he’s wringing the sweat out of a towel.
J. Cole Says He Envy People Who Lack Strong Desire & Lives A Normal Life
J. Cole uses a recent golf experience to explain how he approaches basketball. “First of all, my thought is, Oh, I see why people golf all the f**king time. This is amazing. And then my next thought goes, Damn, I want to get really good at this. And then my next thought goes, How good could I get? Like, Could I…? That’s just how my mind works. It’s like, What’s the highest height I can climb?”
He approaches hooping similarly. “Basketball is the same thing. If the highest height that I can climb is rec league in North Carolina or in New York, where I’m averaging 20 points a game, like, All right, that’s the highest height I can climb. But I’ve got to max out! I got to get the most out of my body.”
He was also asked if there’s any fear associated with falling off, to which he says, “No, There’s no fear of falling off. It’s an acceptance of the reality of what will happen when you decide to stop putting in the work. It’s just the inevitable result.”
Cole also reveals that he’s never going to say if he’s done with music. “I’m super comfortable with the potential of being done with this sh*t. But I’m never going to say, Oh, this is my last album. Because I never know how I’m going to feel two years, three years, four years down the line, 10 years down the line, but please believe, I’m doing all this work for a reason.”
“I’m doing all this work to be at peace with, If I never did another album, I’m cool. That’s the reason for all of this, so I know that I put everything on the table. I left everything on the table, and I’m good with that. Because there’s a lot of sh*t I want to do with my life and in my life that, because I have such intense love and passion for the craft, if I don’t let that go, I’m not going to be able to get to these other things that I also want to learn and grow and be good at.”
“So it’s like, No, let me get everything out on this craft, to where I feel at peace. And then, guess what? If I’m inspired and I feel like doing it again, cool. But if not, I know I left it all on the table,” says Jermaine.
The rapper was getting ready to suit up for the Basketball Africa League’s Rwanda Patriots. This Thursday is anticipated to see the formal announcement of J. Cole’s signing with the Rwandan team. Before enrolling as a walk-on at St. John’s University in the early 2000s, Cole played high school basketball at Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville. However, before participating in a Division I game, Cole, shifted his attention to music.
Jermaine Cole not showing any sign of stopping as he assisted multiple artists in 2023. The rapper collaborated with Bas on “Passport Bros“, Lil Durk on “All My Life“, Gucci Mane on “There I Go” and Burna Boy on “Thanks“.
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