MC’s MUSIC LOUNGE: J. Cole’s Final Act

With the exception of Kendrick Lamar, it’s been a rough year commercially for hip-hop, at least in terms of the lack of hits that have been produced in the genre. Last fall, Billboard reported that for the first time in 35 years, there were no hip-hop songs charting within the Top 40. In an effort to turn the tide back in hip-hop’s favour we have J. Cole, one of the genre’s most respected artists of the last decade, back with a new album, The Fall-Off, an album that he says will be his last. 

Positioning his The Fall-Off as his final statement instantly raises the stakes, not just for his fans but for hip-hop as a genre. In an era where rappers rarely take any time away from the studio or the spotlight, Cole choosing closure almost feels a little radical. He’s not retiring from lack of relevance, if anything he’s on track for some really high first-week sales numbers. He’s simply reminding us that sometimes the most powerful move an artist can make is knowing when the story is complete (for now). I take this with a grain of salt of course as this wouldn’t be the first time that an artist claims a body of work is their “last” when it indeed is not. Barbra Streisand has gone on the record many times that she was retiring and she just released a new album last year. Lily Allen also has suggested she’d retire from music and now just released one of the most successful albums of her career. For all we know, Cole may be back in a few years with a “never mind”, but for the time being he has said that he intends for this to be his last project - “intends” being the key word here.

After the slew of controversies he faced two years ago during the Kendrick and Drake beef, many fans were intrigued to see if he’d address it on the album, and he does on a few tracks. The one that stands out to me is “I Love Her Again” where he uses a romantic relationship as an analogy for hip-hop and his relationships within the genre. He uses a cheating girlfriend choosing two lovers over him as a representation of hip-hop choosing his “two homies” who “started beefing”, which many fans believe is Kendrick and Drake. Is it just fan lore? Could be, that’s the beauty of dissecting new lyrics, it really can mean what you want it to mean. It’s a subtle yet direct approach to acknowledge a situation that did more damage than good for almost everyone involved. That’s the thing about the most famous rap beefs, it’s the ones with the worst outcomes which become the most known.

Next week’s street date is the day before Valentine’s Day so there’s a solid selection of music for all the lovers. Charli XCX drops the soundtrack to Wuthering Heights and Brent Faiyaz is releasing his new album after scrapping it entirely last September. I’m most excited for Jill Scott’s new album To Whom This May Concern, because no one does music for love better than Jill. This week along with J. Cole are new releases from ZAYN, Tame Impala with JENNIE, Charlie Puth with Kenny G, and FISHER. Plus, a Madonna deep cut from the Erotica album has a moment on Tik Tok.

 Listen on…

MC’s PICKS OF THE WEEK

“Two Six” by J. Cole

The album starts off on a very strong note with the banger “Two Six” that instantly catches your ear in the same vein that his past hits like “Work Out” and “No Role Modelz” do. He released an accompanying music video to the song which follows a black-and-white old school aesthetic along with some colour shots interwoven. Many quick cuts of his poetry flash along the scene, as well as him in front of historical landmarks in his hometown of Fayetteville. The video is a representation of his roots and how far he has come since his time in North Carolina. The title of the song “Two Six” is a symbol for one of the nicknames that Fayetteville locals have given to a military base there, with the number still being used as a jail code. Cole has referenced his hometown in his music before, as his 2014 album 2014 Forest Hills Drive was the actual address of his childhood home that he shared with his single mother. For a lead single from an album that is intended to be his last, “Two Six” is a strong representation of the origin story of one of this generations most talented MCs.

“Die for Me” by ZAYN

It’s only February and we’ve gotten more music from the former One Direction boys than ever before. First it was Louis, then Harry and now Zayn has made his presence known. After some shady comments made during his recent Las Vegas residency towards Harry’s concert ticket prices put him in the headlines, Zayn is now redirecting the narrative to his music by releasing his new single “Die for Me” and announcing his first-ever headlining arena tour across the US and Europe. “Die for Me’ is Zayn back in his R&B/Pop bag, a sound that he adapted during his first album Mind of Mine which was home to the smash hit “PILLOWTALK”. Zayn also tapped the same production team from that album to help create the new single. Lyrically, he’s gone full lover boy, begging his lover to stay with him after he gave her his heart. The song is some of his best music I’ve heard in years, which further proves my thought that Zayn is at his best when he’s singing R&B music with a Pop edge to it. He would’ve thrived in the mid-2000s, that’s for sure. His last few albums leaned more towards a soft rock and country-tinged vibe, and while he was trying out new things creatively, it certainly didn’t do him any favours on the charts. From the announcement of the arena tour to his general sound being more commercially appealing, it looks like Mr. Malik is ready to give Harry a run for his money.

“Dracula – JENNIE Remix” by Tame Impala, JENNIE

When Kevin Parker of Tame Impala wore a JENNIE T-shirt when he was first spotted after winning a Grammy last week, it would’ve been easy to write it off as him just sharing his appreciation. Sure enough, it was an easter egg as just a few days later, he announced her presence on the remix for Tame Impala’s biggest hit in North America to date. The original version of the disco and electropop track “Dracula” was released last September as the third single from the album Deadbeat. The single peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached #1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay charts, becoming Parker’s highest charting single to date on both charts and was the first Tame Impala song period to chart on the Hot 100. Very odd given that the hit “The Less I Know the Better” has over 2.2. billion streams on Spotify, but sometimes I can’t even pretend to understand how some songs miss the charting mark upon their initial releases. Either way, “Dracula” did major numbers for Tame Impala that the act had never seen before so naturally a remix was due, because what else is there to do in the streaming era if it’s not attempting to keep the party going. Adding JENNIE feels natural on the track and she sounds awesome on the song, layering the verses and chorus along with some new lyrics for us all to sink our fangs into. The background track on the song is pretty much the same, with JENNIE’s vocal additions being the only change. This of course comes weeks before the long-awaited release of BLACKPINK’s newest mini-album Deadline, so it’s a big month for JENNIE fans.

“Cry” by Charlie Puth, Kenny G

Charlie Puth’s visibility is the highest it’s ever been as he’s fresh off his high-profile gigs performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl and paying tribute to Mariah Carey with a rendition of her cover of “I Still Believe” at the Grammy MusiCares gala (to the dismay of the song’s original artist Brenda K. Starr). Naturally, with high visibility comes the start of a new musical era and Charlie is bringing along a cherished musical genius to help elevate the new music. The new single “Cry” features the one and only Kenny G on saxophone. I’ve talked about this before, but no other instrument gets as much of a positive reaction out of me than a saxophone. It’s just so effortlessly beautiful while still maintaining a sense of sensuality and romance no matter the context of its use. In this sense, Kenny’s sax solo adds some serious emotion to the already gut-wrenching song that sees Charlie singing about comforting a loved one and letting them know that it is ok to cry and feel your feelings. Charlie’s angelic vocals are perfectly pitched and compliment the adult contemporary pop energy of the track. Charlie manifested this collaboration with Kenny G as explained in his recent TikTok – Charlie wrote a solo using an existing Kenny G track as a sample, and once the icon heard the solo, he sent back his own recorded version within the hour. Talk about putting your art out and letting the universe do its thing. Charlie has used his TikTok as a means of sharing his musical gifts, and if you take a deep dive into those posts you will see that there’s so much more to him than just being a Gen Z pop star. Looks like Taylor Swift was on to something when she threw him a bone in the lyrics to her song on The Tortured Poets Department.

“Rain” by FISHER

Every now and then I love a little “oontz-oontz” moment; you know, those songs that if you’re not on some type of psychedelic it can tend to sound like noise. When it’s done right however, it can pass the MC test. I first was introduced to FISHER when he released a remix of Jennifer Lopez’s “Waiting for Tonight” a few years back, and his re-imagined version of the song breathed new life into the track, making it ready for a new generation of club kids. The tone of this new song “Rain” is simple enough that it doesn’t require too much of your actual attention – which when making a song meant for a rave is always a good sign. Listening to this makes me feel like I need to be partying in a packed crowd in Ibiza with a lot of things in my system that my mother wouldn’t approve of. If I really put my mind to it, I can make this fantasy come true, as FISHER is set to return to Ibiza for a second residency from June to September. Tempting. He first premiered the song during his sold-out show of 40,000 fans in San Francisco, confirming what he already knew: he’s got a hit on his hands. Given the record freezing temperatures across both Canada and the US recently, I am finding myself day dreaming more and more about dancing the night away on a hot summer evening. It might be time to get the Summer 2026 playlist going just to help boost some morale.

MC’s VIRAL PICK

“Thief of Hearts” by Madonna

One of Madonna’s best eras musically was also her most controversial one. Erotica is almost 34 years old, but the album sounds even fresher today than it did when it dropped. At the time, house music was having a real moment but specifically the music of the underground gay clubs which featured lots of piano riffs and hard hitting bass lines that can keep you on the dancefloor all night long. Madonna was always releasing house remixes of her hits, but with the Erotica album, she took it one step further by making it the primary sound of the entire era, a perfect choice for a creative project that was heavily centered around sex and fetishes. Erotica wasn’t Madonna singing, it was “Dita” her alter-ego – the personality that allowed her to write about anything she wanted. In the case of “Thief of Hearts” the subject was allegedly Annette Benning who married Madge’s ex Warren Beatty not long after they broke up (two years later to be exact). Annette had a baby in early ’92, which Madonna references in the song. It’s the bridge however that has become a viral trend. You know, the part where Madonna starts off by saying “bitch” in her best valley girl accent before describing all the things this woman is doing to all these “hearts”. Doing it, taking it, screwing it, faking it, you name it, it’s in there. Dita was pissed.

@lisarinnaofficial #madonna #theifofhearts #fyp ♬ original sound - Milesmoo17

@milesmoo17 Erotica is incredible!! #madonna #erotica #music #thiefofhearts @madonna ♬ original sound - Milesmoo17

@senorsalsa #thiefofhearts ♬ original sound - Milesmoo17

@madonnaccess Madonna joined the “Thief of Hearts” trend. #madonna #thiefofhearts #trend #queenofpop #foryou ♬ som original - I AM NOT MADONNA

How this song came to resurface is something of a TikTok mystery, but it has now incited think pieces on the song’s origins and thousands of videos of people just dancing to the bridge. The song even jumped from 3,000 to 33,000 daily streams for a week straight. The Erotica album was underappreciated at the time of its release, likely due to the public focus on her accompanying book Sex, which made her image take a hit. All these years later, these amazing songs still exist and feel like they could be released today. Madonna has one of the most timeless discographies, and I’m always going to be right there with any song that decides to go viral. They’ve all gone triple platinum in my house.

The 2026 “MC’s MUSIC LOUNGE” Spotify playlist is officially live. You can add it here to keep up to date with my weekly picks throughout the year. 

With Love, 

MC