J. Cole stunned fans earlier this week after tweeting his plans to drop a new album this Friday, April 20th. Cole kept his message short, saying:
"New album. KOD 4/20"
Cole followed the announcement with "first come first serve" invitations to what was assumed to be listening parties in New York City and London. The events were hosted by Dreamville Records at "secret locations". Fans were instructed not to bring phones, cameras or bags.
Today J. Cole released the cover art and track list for KOD via Twitter. The project will include 12 tracks and two features from an unknown artist named "kiLL Edward". The cover art depicts J. Cole surrounded by children who are using substances such as codeine, cocaine, prescription pills, etc. The cover art includes the words "This album is no way intended to glorify addiction".
The album's release date may be no coincidence. KOD will drop 4/20, the biggest cannabis "holiday" of the year. Cole has touched on the topic of drugs in several of his past tracks. Based on what we know so far, we can assume drug use will be a prominent theme in the project.
The tweet is currently trending on twitter and raising eyebrows. One of the biggest questions circulating is: Who is kiLL Edward?
Cole is known for success despite his lack of features. His last two projects 4 Your Eyez Only and 2014 Forest Hills Drive were both solo projects. Cole's 2014 solo album went triple platinum with no features, a fact fans boast about to this day.
Along with his track record of producing solo albums, attendees of the KOD listening party reported that the project did NOT include features.
Because of this, a popular rumor circulating is "kiLL Edward" is J. Cole!
Fans discovered a verified Soundcloud account named "kiLL Edward", which further fueled the claims that kiLL Edward is Cole's alter ego. The account released this track two days ago:
Fans have already began commenting under the track saying the vocals sound identical to J. Cole and pointing fingers to KOD.
Music blogger, Andres Tardio also contributed to the viral claims, tweeting:
Fans will have to wait until Friday to discover whether or not J. Cole is keeping his no-feature streak.
Cover Photo: Getty images