On Tuesday, SLAM Magazine revealed the cover for their 232nd issue starring the rapper J. Cole.

Per SLAM, J. Cole is the first musical artist to be featured solo on the magazine’s cover. The cover story describes the parallels between basketball and Cole’s music career leading up to the release of his upcoming album, The Off-Season, on Friday.


Basketball has featured in J. Cole’s music for a long time, dating back to his early releases such as Friday Night Lights and Cole World: The Sideline Story. He performed at the halftime show of the 2019 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, and more recently agreed to a contract to play professionally with the Rwanda-based Patriots BBC of the Basketball Africa League.

J. Cole released a single, “i n t e r l u d e,” from The Off-Season on Friday last week.