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J Cole is midway through his highly-anticipated “The Fall Off” world tour where he is set to play 50 datesacross 15 countries. When he announced the outing I knew I’d be in attendance – but what I didn’t know was that I’d wind up going three times.
Yes, I went to see J. Cole on his “The Fall Off” tour three times in five days. Now, let me explain.
The energy was palpable as 20,000 eager fans filled seats at Barclays Center on Friday, July 31 and Saturday, Aug. 1 – shows one and two of his sold out five night run in New York City. In interviews leading up to this tour the rap legend had declared this long-awaited album his last and, much to the disappointment of Cole fans worldwide, hinting at retirement. So we knew we were about to witness history.
All I’ll say is, both casual and diehard J. Cole fans alike all left that venue the same way – sweaty, hoarse, and inspired.
On July 31, the opening set included performances from several Dreamville artists. The highlight cametoward the end when Lute delivered his verse from “Down Bad,” before Bas wrapped things up with his hit record “Tribe,” which was the perfect appetizer for what we were about to experience.
At precisely 9:14, the lights went down and the crowd lights up. It’s time.
Ever the man of the people, J. Cole began the show sitting in the audience among screaming fans. The spotlight reveals the headliner in his signature hoodie and shorts as he sings the first track from disc two of his double-feature album “39 Intro.”
“A spaceship lands on mars… halfway to the stars… halfway to the stars.”
His words fill the arena feeling almost as if they were the Dreamville national anthem.
From the stands, Cole makes his way through a crowd of frenzied fans shaking hands and signing autographs as a spotlight follows him. Just before the song concludes he screams at the top of his lungs, “NEW YORK CITY!!!!!!” and we go rabid. At that moment bright red lights blare through the arena and we hear…
“Two six n—-s wild, b—-… Two six n—-s wild, b—-.” THIS is what we came for.
Cole’s main set piece is a huge recreation of the historic Market House building that he eventually describes as “the Empire State Building” of Fayetteville, NC – his beloved hometown to which this album is dedicated. At some point his Honda Civic is lowered onto the stage, which is the car he drove back and forth from NC to NYC during his come up. That’s just one of the many nostalgic bits that pay tribute to his storied career.
And we’re off…
He unveils “Safety,” “Run A Train,” and before he gives his first monologue rocks “PoorThang.”
“Set this b—- off, Set this b—- off!” raps the whole crowd in unison… the energy is electric!
Monologues from the North Carolina native elevated the show from a compilation of songs to a story about Fayetteville, his humble beginnings and creative vision for this final project.
“I go by the name J. Cole, Jermaine Cole and this is ‘The Fall Off Tour.’” Let’s GO.
Every time I heard his first monologue I took away something different. Nights one and twoI thought, “what an impeccable way to start the show.” Night three I noticed every single word ofit was identical. He is really well-rehearsed. A true professional.
Next up, Cole goes into “Legacy” and brings out North Carolina-native PJ aka Paris Jones to conclude the song.
At that moment, tje set turns red and in comes the dissonant chords of the next song “A Tale of 2 Citiez” from his critically-acclaimed 2014 Forest Hills Drive – the first departure from “The Fall Off” album on the set list and was a super high energy, smack-talking joint that puts a battery in your back and leaves you screaming at the top of your lungs.
“Since a youngin’ always dreamed of gettin’ rich, Look at me, my n—-.”
WHAT?! I watched a crowd of sensible adults go absolutely ballistic describing armed robbery.
“Last night, they pulled on my n—- at the light like, uh, nice watch, run it. Hands… in the air…now… hands in the air, run it.”
During the spookiest, most hypnotic part of the track — the part where he says “your wish is my command, my command, my command” — J. Cole instructs the crowd to wave their arms from side to side at his direction. I’m not going to lie…I put my hands down at that point… you’re not about to do witchcraft on me, Jermaine.
Next song was another one of them ONES from that same album… “Fire Squad” as THE VILLE popped up on the jumbotrons.
“Ain’t a way around it no more, I am the greatest… A lotta n—-s sat on the throne, I am the latest.”
He had the crowd going, “TALK YOUR S— COLE!” And it hit that much harder sitting at his sold out world tour among a sea of diehard fans. If this is what falling off looks like, sign me up.
“Who’s the king? Came from the bottom n—-, with stains on my shirt… What you expected from me, I came from the dirt.”
The transition here is one of my favorite parts of the entire show. While “Fire Squad” is wrapping up, bits from “WHO TF IZ U” trickle in.
“Out the way, it’s a real n—- coming through… Out the way, it’s a real n—- coming through.”
The run of those three songs felt like the most incredible 10-minutes of my life. The way he weaved in and out of those songs so seamlessly. The combined energy of all three of them one right after the other OH MY GOD. And then…. AND THEN. We get monologue two where he spends a considerable amount of time talking about how iconic New York is from our slang to fashion to sports with an apt acknowledgment of the Knicks’ recent championship win that rocked the city. Only to contrast that cultural dominance to his small hometown of Fayetteville, NC ending the monologue by asking the crowd to pretend to be from The ‘Ville for the next song.
Then my head nearly explodes… it’s my favorite song on the album, “Old Dog” featuring another North Carolina-native, Petey Pablo.
“Ring, ring, who the f— is that, it’s a 910 number so you know a n—- zapped.”
BEAT DROP. This is one of the parts in the show where I realize… this isn’t one of the more popular songs on the album and I feel like an elite Cole fan.
We transition out of that song into a few incredible seconds of “Raise Up” by Petey Pablo…
“This one’s for North Carolinaaaaa…. Come on and raise up… Take your shirt off, twist it ‘round your hand, spin it like a helicopter” which is when we were instructed to take the “The Fall Off” towels we were given and… spin them like a helicopter. We’re far from done, though. Next is “MIDDLE CHILD.”
“I’m dead in the middle of two generations… I’m little bro and big bro all at once… Just left the lab with young 21 Savage… I’m ‘bout to go and meet Jigga for lunch.”
Speaking of 21 Savage, next up is their smash collab “a lot” that samples the sweet sounds of “I Love You” by 1971 funk and soul band, East of Underground.
Admittedly the next run of songs are not my favorite and this is because, as you may recall, Ilike that high energy s—-talking music. We get “Johnny P’s Caddy” (Benny the Butcherfeature), “Lights Please,” “2Face,” “In the Morning,” (a certified banger) and “Nobody’sPerfect.”
Right after that, Cole slapped us in the face with hit after hit after hit that brings fans of a certain age back and reminded us all just how many stages of life Cole’s been with us through.
We get “Work Out,” “Can’t Get Enough,” (WHAT?!), “The London,” “She Knows” and twoof my favorites from “The Fall Off” – “The Let Out” and “Bombs in the Ville / Hit the Gas.”
Now comes arguably the biggest moment of the show – “Wet Dreamz.”
From “Let me take y’all back, man… As I do so well” to the very end it seemed like every singleperson in that arena knew every single lyric word-for-word bar-for-bar.
“It wasn’t nothing like that first time… she was in my math class… long hair brown skin with thefat a–… sat behind me used to laugh had mad jokes… the teacher always got mad so wepassed notes.”
Then we get back to that gangsta. “G.O.M.D.”
“Eat the cake b—-, eat the damn cake… f— good n—- we demand great… Order Domino’sand she take off all her clothes, n—- you know how it goes, make the pizza man wait.”
Now, we’re getting somewhere. At this point, the sweetest run in the show hits and Cole shouts out all the couples (and singles awaiting their mate) in the building as he introduces “Life Sentence,” which he calls “the realest s— I wrote” – only to play “Love Yourz” right after which he admits is actually the realest s— he ever wrote. We lit the place up with our phones.
After this song he thanks the crowd and it feels like the end of the show until the intro to one of my Hall of Fame songs, “Power Trip,” plays. Right about now I’m thinking, BEST NIGHT EVER.
By now we’re all plenty sweaty, hoarse and inspired. And then he gets to the final and most memorable monologue of the show – when he announces he has two songs left. Just two. I’ll admit – night one my stomach sank. The best night of my life just CAN’T be over. And apparently everyone else felt the same because the announcement was quickly met with a loud round of boos to which J. Cole pretended to be offended only to later admit he knew it came from love. And while we thought we’d be able to convince him to give us an encore, he reminded us he had been on stage for over two hours with no hype man, no background dancers, no outfit changes, no crazy pyro and barely a chance to take a water break. And it’s like yeah, talk your s— Cole – you gave a f—ing SHOW.
To wrap up, he directs us all to put a finger in the sky and fakes like he’s going to perform “DejaVu” only to knock out his diamond record “No Role Modelz.” In a hilarious skit, he recreated theGeorge W. Bush speech featured in that song where he’s dressed in a suit as the former president…
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee—I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says,fool me once, shame on… shame on you. Fool me—you can’t get fooled again.”
With that, he ends the night with “Quik Stop,” which Cole calls a “selfish choice” just for himself. He even jokes that now might be a good time to leave and beat that Barclays/MSG traffic since it’s not a major hit song.
FINAL VERDICT: As someone who went to three shows in five days – the first two at Barclays and third at Madison Square Garden – show three was just as electric as show one, even though I knew all the tricks, twists, and turns. That energy moved me just the same every time because he brought stage presence, energy, and bars to every single show.
“Thank you & good night.”
End scene.
MAJOR TAKEAWAYS
● Even though the entire crowd was singing every word, he has a way of making the music feel personal . It’s a rare quality that very few artists possess – and the ones that do really penetrate.● The breath control was crazy. He was really rapping every word. There were moments you can tell were strategically placed to give him a break and catch his breath but what he did on that stage was genuinely impressive.● As big of a J. Cole fan as I am, even I wondered if I’d be entertained from beginning to end because I know he’s a no-frills performer. But baby, I was THOROUGHLY entertained. It was the passion. He meant every word he said up there and because of that we really felt him.● Every single show, Cole made a point to acknowledge the people in the very back. He also made a point to say at every single show I attended that he was appreciative of both the diehard fans that knew every word to every song as well as those who like “just one song.” As he says “if you made it in the building tonight, I appreciate you.”● He really seemed present like he was taking it all in – but not getting overwhelmed by the magnitude of the event. He was in control of the show, well-rehearsed and prepared in a way that makes calling him anything but a legend indefensible.● My prediction: He is absolutely not retiring. He is at the top of his game and only getting better – he’s still got so much more to say.
Job well done, Cole. You gave us something we could feel.
Where else is J. Cole performing in 2026?
All upcoming North American J. Cole ‘Fall Off Tour’ concert dates, venues and links to buy tickets are listed below.
J. Cole tour datesAug. 12 at the United Center in Chicago, ILAug. 15 at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OHAug. 16 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MIAug. 18 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MNAug. 19 at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MOAug. 21 at the Ball Arena in Denver, COAug. 24 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, CAAug. 25 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WAAug. 27 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CAAug. 29 at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CAAug. 30 at the Oakland Arena in Oakland, CASept. 1 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CASept. 3 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CASept. 4 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CASept. 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NVSept. 7 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CASept. 9 at the Viejas Arena in San Diego, CASept. 10 at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZSept. 13 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TXSept. 14 at the Moody Center in Austin, TXSept. 16 at the Toyota Center in Houston, TXSept. 17 at the Toyota Center in Houston, TXSept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TXSept. 20 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TXSept. 23 at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC
What songs does J. Cole perform live on ‘The Fall-Off Tour’?
Recently, Cole performed at Belmont Park’s UBS Arena on Aug. 5. Set List FM reported these are the 31 tunes he took to the stage.
01.) “39 Intro”
02.) “Two Six”
03.) “SAFETY”
04.) “Run a Train”
05.) “Poor Thang”
06.) “Legacy”
07.) “A Tale of 2 Citiez”
08.) “Fire Squad / WHO TF IZ U”
09.) “Old Dog”
10.) “Raise Up” (Petey Pablo cover)
11.) “MIDDLE CHILD”
12.) “a lot” (21 Savage cover)
13.) “Johnny P’s Caddy” (Benny the Butcher cover)
14.) “Lights Please”
15.) “2Face”
16.) “In the Morning”
17.) “Nobody’s Perfect” (Acapella)
18.) “Work Out”
19.) “Can’t Get Enough”
20.) “The London” (Young Thug cover)
21.) “She Knows”
22.) “The Let Out”
23.) “Bombs in the Ville/Hit the Gas”
24.) “Wet Dreamz”
25.) “G.O.M.D.”
26.) “Life Sentence”
27.) “Love Yourz”
28.) “Power Trip”
29.) “Planez” (Jeremih cover)
30.) “No Role Modelz”
31.) “Quik Stop”
J. Cole new music
J. Cole dropped his seventh studio album, the two-disc “The Fall-Off,” on Feb. 6.
If this really is his last record as teased, Cole is going out with a bang.
Over the course of 24 exquisitely-produced tracks (that feature big names like Future, Erykah Badu, Petey Pablo, Burna Boy and Tems among others) the St. John’s alum delivers his trademark effortless flow over a number of left-field beat choices, creating an often surprising, always sonically-rich listening experience.
Things get underway on Disc One with the genuinely shocking opener “29 Intro,” which features James Taylor’s easy “Carolina On My Mind” playing in the background of a house party before gunshots are heard. The message is loud and clear here: this isn’t your average record.
Following that jolt, Cole evokes an early ’90s Hip-Hop sound on the silky smooth “SAFETY” before jumping backwards to the cozy ’70s Motown-sampling “Run A Train” and then heading to the 2000s with the hard yet jazzy “Poor Thang.”
Other highlights include the blissed-out epic “Bunce Road Blues,” attitude-heavy and tongue-in-cheek “WHO TF IZ U” and soaring, salsa-ified ballad “The Let Out.”
And that’s just the first half of the album.
To hear for yourself, you can find “The Fall-Off” here.
Hip-Hop icons on tour in 2026
Many of the biggest names in the game are taking their hits on the road this year.
Here are just five of our favorite Hip-Hop icons you won’t want to miss live these next few months.
• Lil Wayne with 2 Chainz
• Vince Staples
• Don Toliver
• Wu-Tang Clan with Bone Thungs-N-Harmony
• Young Thug
Who else is out and about? Take a look at this list of all the biggest Hip-Hop heroes on tour in 2026 to find the show for you.
This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.
