J. Cole Brings His Career Full Circle On “The Fall Off Tour” (Review)

J. Cole has always shouted out his hometown of Fayetteville, NC, “the 2-6,” throughout his career and continued to do so on his sixth and supposedly “final” album, The Fall Off. But, on Aug. 1, he wanted Barclays Center to know NYC is his home too.

“Is Queens in here tonight?” he asked the sold-out Brooklyn crowd on a humid summer night. “Yeah, man, this shit my home away from home; Queens helped raise me…When y’all make best rappers from NYC lists, put me on the bottom, at least… I feel like I’m from here — I’m a Queens ni**a.” The crowd roared. “This city is a part of my story, my dreams, career… my story isn’t the same without NYC.”

That’s the thread running through “The Fall Off World Tour”: Cole’s journey from Fayetteville to New York to global rap stardom, and the “inevitable fall off” that follows, told through hits and deep cuts from nearly two decades of music.

The stage design leaned into his North Carolina roots, with references and landmarks paying homage to his old stomping ground. The show opened with a Paramount-style movie intro on the LED screens, Dreamville logo front and center. Cole’s old 2000 Honda Civic dropped from the ceiling behind a spotlit mic stand. “39 Intro” played as Cole emerged from the crowd, and the main stage transformed into Fayetteville’s Market House. “My rhymes are like shrines for the city I miss,” he rapped to a hushed, 19,000–21,000-strong crowd clinging on to every word.

As the story goes: Cole came to NYC for college at St. John’s in 2003, hoping to get close to JAŸ-Z and secure a record deal. He waited outside Roc the Mic studio in the rain to hand JAŸ a beat CD, that Cole felt would be perfect for Hov’s then-upcoming album, American Gangster. After some time went by, JAŸ finally showed up to the studio but dismissed the CD from a young Cole.

However, as fate would have it, those unused beats became the foundation for Cole’s mixtape The Come Up, which launched his career and eventually got him signed to Roc Nation in 2009. That same year, Cole would appear on JAŸ’s Blueprint 3, with a legendary verse on “A Star Is Born.” Since then, the rapper has carved out one of the most successful careers in the modern hip-hop landscape: winning two Grammys, seventeen nominations, and a platinum certification for every album.

The setlist traced that arc; from “39 Intro” through The Fall Off tracks like “Two Six,” “SAFETY,” “Run a Train,” “Poor Thang,” and “Legacy,” which pivoted the night into a meditation on Cole’s place among hip-hop’s “big three” alongside Drake and Kendrick Lamar. From there, fifteen years of hits flowed through the arena, with bangers like, “A Tale of 2 Citiez,” “MIDDLE CHILD,” “a lot,” “Lights Please,” “In the Morning,” “Work Out,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “No Role Modelz,” and more turning the storybook night into a party soundtracked by the rapper’s greatest hits. And if you were wondering, yes, Cole did this show solo. No guests, no gimmicks, but rather just two hours of bars and a masterclass in commanding an arena.

Cole closed with reflection, looking intently at his career, where he shared he has “recurring thoughts” about fame and fortune and his relationship to both. After “Life Sentence” and “Love Yourz,” he ended on “Quik Stop,” a Fall Off track about a fan who spots Cole at the gas station and eventually helped him understand that being a rapper is “about the difference you make.” Before performing the song, he gave one last declaration on his journey to rap stardom, emotionally asserting, “This shit was all worth it. All of it…I’m grateful.”

J. Cole’s ‘The Fall Off Tour’ is set to pull double nighter at Boston’s TD Garden on Aug. 7 & 8 followed by another two-night show in Chicago at the United Center on Aug. 11 & 12.

United Talent Agency (UTA) represents J. Cole for worldwide bookings.

‘The Fall Off Tour,’ Aug. 1, Barclays Center Set-List

39 Intro”

“Two Six”

“SAFETY”

“Run a Train”

“Poor Thang”

“Legacy”

“A Tale of 2 Citiez”

“Fire Squad” / “WHO TF IZ U”

“Old Dog”

“MIDDLE CHILD”

“a lot”

“Johnny P’s Caddy”

“Lights Please”

“2Face”

“In the Morning”

“Nobody’s Perfect”

“Work Out”

“Can’t Get Enough”

“The London”

“She Knows”

“The Let Out”

“Bombs in the Ville / Hit the Gas”

“Wet Dreamz”

“G.O.M.D.”

“Life Sentence”

“Love Yourz”

“Power Trip”

“Planez”

“No Role Modelz”

“Quik Stop”