J. Cole Channels 2000s Reggae on “Only You” With Burna Boy as ‘The Fall Off’ Emerges as Star-Studded, Sample-Rich Potential Finale

J. Cole taps into easy 2000s reggae for the track Only You featuring Burna Boy. On the track Burna Boy interploates Jah Cure’s Longing For, sing out out the chorus of the Don Corleone produced track. Elsewhere the haunting vocals resembling T.O.K.’s ‘Footprints’ plays over a spoken word outro. Both songs are owned by the New York based VP Records.

Music from the album was recorded in Jamaica at Diplo’s Pompeye.

The rapper, who backed out of a highly publicized battle with Kendrick Lamar and Drake last year frames The Fall Off as a potential final album, described by Cole as a double project “made with intentions” to be his last. It follows The Off-Season (2021) and Might Delete Later (2024), and arrives with a carefully planned rollout, including a trailer narrated by comedian Dan Harumi. The album blends introspection, legacy themes, and stylistic range, while pairing Cole’s in-house production style with major collaborators and sample-heavy songwriting.

Other guest appearances on the project include:

Future – “Run a Train,” “Bunce Road Blues”

Tems – “Bunce Road Blues”

Erykah Badu – “The Villest”

Petey Pablo – “Old Dog”

Cole is deeply hands-on, producing or co-producing much of the album alongside:

T-Minus (key collaborator across many tracks), Omen, The Alchemist (notably “Bunce Road Blues”), DZL, Wu10, Vinylz, FNZ, Beat Butcha, TaeBeast, Maneesh, Steve Bilodeau, JŪN TETRA & GLDY JR, Boi-1da, Fierce, AzizTheShake, Ron Gilmore Jr., and others.

Writers for the double disc 24 track set include:

James Taylor (“29 Intro”)

Joe Sample (“SAFETY”)

Jermaine Dupri & Usher (“Bunce Road Blues”)

Harvey Fuqua & Johnny Bristol (“WHO TF IZ U”)

Christopher Bridges (Ludacris) & Boi-1da circle (“Bombs in the Ville/Hit the Gas”)

Willie Hutch (“39 Intro”)

André 3000 & Big Boi (OutKast lineage on “The Villest”)

Bobby Caldwell, J Dilla, Common lineage (“I Love Her Again”)

Craig David, DMX (“Life Sentence”)

Jennifer Lopez, KRS-One, Smokey Robinson (“Man Up Above”)

Ronald Isley and The Isley Brothers songwriting family (“and the whole world is the Ville”).