Last year, J. Cole emerged into the game an artist reborn, in a sense. From the jump, KOD felt spontaneous in its rollout, and ambitious in its scope. Even the album cover stood among the year’s most evocative, with a haunting depiction of himself as a benevolent ruler. Not only did his solo album stand among the year’s strongest records, landing our Album Of The Year award, but Cole proceeded to embark on a truly impeccable guest-verse campaign, blessing Royce Da 5’9″, Wale, 21 Savage, J.I.D., Rapsody, Moneybagg Yo, and more with stellar features. The brilliance prompted Cole to dip, at the very least, a single toe in his bag, which culminated in the form of the braggadocios “Album Of The Year” freestyle.

Now, the momentum has show little to no sign of slowing down. As we all know, Cole’s quarterbacking role in the Revenge Of The Dreamers 3 sessions has been well documented, uniting the entirety of his label under a singular banner, among other key players. The sessions have already retained a historic feel, and those who experienced them will likely cherish the memories among the highlights of their career. Fans have been salivating at the notion of receiving the compilation whenever it ultimately drops, and while we have yet to receive a date, Cole has indeed wasted little time in stoking the flame heights.

The rapper has officially purged his Instagram of content, which in the hip-hop world, can only mean one thing: album mode. Whether it’s Dreamers 3, The Off-Season, or another project altogether, we’re not sure. Either way, this is the true embodiment of the age-old “less is more” idiom. Bring on that new Cole.