Hours before turning 41 years old, J. Cole released a four-pack of new freestyles hosted by DJ Clue on Tuesday (Jan. 27). Packaged as the Birthday Blizzard ’26, the EP is available on Cole’s website for as little as $1.
The surprise drop includes the “Bronx Zoo Freestyle,” “Golden Goose,” “Winter Storm” and “99 Build Freestyle.” One freestyle finds Cole effortlessly flowing over the classic Stevie J-produced instrumental to Diddy’s “Victory” featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes. On another track, Cole appears to address his apology to Kendrick Lamar and bowing out of a feud in April 2024 with the Compton legend. The Dreamville rapper initially dissed K. Dot on “7 Minute Drill,” but ended up scrubbing the Might Delete Later mixtape cut from streaming services and apologized to Lamar onstage at his Dreamville Festival.
Earlier this month, Cole released “Disc 2 – Track 2,” a striking song where he raps about his life in reverse. The accompanying video showed Cole describing his death, then working backward to his birth.
Birthday Blizzard ’26 serves as an appetizer for fans while setting the stage for Cole’s anticipated The Fall-Off album, which is set to arrive on Feb. 6.
