J. Cole has released the first single from The Fall-Off, just hours after announcing the album.

Uploaded under the title “The Fall-Off… Disc 2 Track 2” — a hint that his forthcoming (and final) project could be a double disc effort — the song is a storytelling masterpiece that would make Nas proud.

Taking inspiration from Esco’s “Rewind,” the North Carolina native lays out his life story in reverse over soulful, southern-fried production from DZL and Maneesh — touching on his death, legacy, parenthood, marriage, career milestones and eventually his birth.

“My grandkids carried the coffin to the altar as they burst into tears from their shirts / The tears rise to the sides of they face and into their eyes, it’s piercin’ with hurt / Fast forward 60 years, I got versе of the year, my purpose is clеar, it’s to murk / Whoever dare flirt with death, the best alive and what you now hear is the work,” Cole spits, his confidence clearly undented by the backlash to his decision to bow out of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef.

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