The Off-Season

J. Cole stands in front of a basketball hoop that is on fire. The cover of The Off-Season was photographed by Justin Francis, a photographer, director and cinematographer, and organised by Felton Brown, Dreamville's creative director. The initial idea came from Dreamville president Ibrahim Hamad, and Brown developed it. Because Cole could not easily travel, the team shot close to home in North Carolina. Brown told Complex they "finished the album artwork two weeks before we announced it."

Basketball runs through Cole's whole catalogue. His mixtapes The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights and his debut album Cole World: The Sideline Story all borrowed the language of the sport, and the burning hoop pulls those threads together. The title frames the album as the work done between seasons, the training no one sees, and the flames suggest that work has reached a dangerous heat. The picture is calm and centred, with Cole facing the camera as the rim burns behind him.

The image landed at a moment when Cole's basketball ambitions were literal. In the same month the album came out he made his professional debut with the Patriots Basketball Club in the Basketball Africa League, and he became the first musician on the cover of SLAM. The cover reads as a statement of intent from someone treating rap like an athlete treats a career. The Off-Season was released on 14 May 2021.