An auspicious yet brief exhibition of impeccable MCing. Originally released just ahead of J. Cole’s apparent valediction The Fall-Off, his Birthday Blizzard ’26 provided fans with a reminder of one of his strongest skills: freestyling. Another clear expression of the North Carolina-raised rap star’s genuine, unabashed love for hip-hop culture, the four-song mixtape-as-EP activates no less than DJ Clue himself to host this auspicious exhibition of impeccable MCing. Beginning with “Bronx Zoo Freestyle,” he thumbs his nose at online comment culture while addressing his place in the proverbial Big Three, coming across unbothered by all such rhetoric. Once the forthright “Golden Goose Freestyle” lands, devotees of Bad Boy Records will assuredly note the origins of Cole’s chosen instrumentals, with the label’s in-house team The Hitmen reverently represented. Nodding to his onetime New York home over one of the city’s most notorious beats, he laces “Winter Storm Freestyle” with bar upon bar of lived-in wisdom, urging those listening to be themselves even in times of struggle. For the closing “99 Build Freestyle,” Cole completes his mission while clearly enjoying every moment on the mic.