Is J. Cole Retired?

J. Cole has a new album on the way, but a recent apparel choice teased that he’s “retired.”

Hot New Hip-Hop reports that a new image of Cole posing for a photo with a fan shows him wearing a hoodie that reads: “I’m Retired (This is as dressed up as I get).”

Ultimately, it seems this is just a tongue-in-cheek message from the North Carolina rapper, as his long-awaited new album, The Fall Of, is set to be released in the near future.

J. Cole Bowed Out of a Rap Beef With Kendrick Lamar and Drake in 2024

The new album and “retired” tease come a year after Cole dipped his toes into rap beef with Kendrick Lamar and Drake, but eventually decided to step back.

It all started when Kendrick took some jabs at Drake and Cole on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” Cole released his own diss track in response, but soon took it down and publicly stated that he was not going to get involved any further.

Kendrick and Drake then traded shots back and forth over several different diss tracks, with the Compton rapper very clearly emerging as the victor with “Not Like Us,” a song that has since gone on to achieve massive mainstream success.

50 Cent Thinks Cole Should Have Stayed in The Beef

Notably, some of their peers think Cole should have stayed in the beef, such as 50 Cent. During an interview on Big Boy Radio, 50 Cent expressed disappointment in J. Cole for backing out of the beef so early “because he’s one of the top guys.”

50 Cent explained that he sees hip-hop as a competitive art form, which is why he was upset that J. Cole didn’t stay involved just because he has relationships with both Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

“That’s how we gonna find out who really got it,” 50 said. “I understand the relationship. But I don’t understand why the competitive part in the form, if y’all are brothers like that, then why wouldn’t you compete? Why wouldn’t you understand we are just competing?”