J. Cole dropped four new freestyles Tuesday, just ahead of his 41st birthday on Wednesday. The tracks arrive as part of a DJ Clue-hosted mixtape titled Birthday Blizzard ’26, where Cole reflects on his controversial public apology to Kendrick Lamar on “Bronx Zoo Freestyle.”
Rapping over Diddy‘s “Victory” featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, Cole directly addresses the backlash. “I used to be top, see/ the apology dropped me way out of the top three/ no problem, I’m probably my best when they doubt me,” he spits. “The top ain’t really what I thought it would be, so I jumped off and landed back at the bottom/ and restarted at a level where I wasn’t regarded as much/ just to climb past them again and tell them all to keep up.”
The bars reference Cole’s apology following his diss track “7 Minute Drill,” which was released in response to Lamar’s verse on Metro Boomin‘s “Like That.” On the song, Kendrick dismissed both Drake and Cole as top rappers, declaring, “Motherf*** the Big Three, n****, it’s just big me.”
Cole later walked back his response at Dreamville Festival, calling the diss “the lamest, goofiest s***.”
Elsewhere on Birthday Blizzard ’26, Cole delivers “Golden Goose Freestyle” over Black Rob‘s “Can I Live” featuring The LOX, “Winter Storm Freestyle” over Biggie’s “Who Shot Ya?” and “99 Build Freestyle” over The LOX’s 1998 classic “Money, Power & Respect.”
Jadakiss previously teased the project on his Joe and Jada podcast, confirming Cole’s use of LOX instrumentals.
Birthday Blizzard ’26 is now available on thefalloff.com; a track of the same name appears on the website.
Cole’s next album, The Fall-Off, is set to arrive on Feb. 6.
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