J. Cole came to Toronto for the first of two dates at Scotiabank Arena on July 27. It's part of his sprawling The Fall-Off Tour, which has been rumoured to be his last major global tour – at least in this current iteration.
There was some anticipation about what Cole might do at this Toronto stop. He was a close witness to rap's highest profile recent rivalry after his song "First Person Shooter" with Drake accidentally prompted Kendrick Lamar to ignite the beef with his "fuck the big three" line. He briefly participated and then publicly bowed out, mostly disengaging from the whole affair save for a few defenses of the Toronto rapper.
He stayed consistent in Toronto, mostly avoiding the topic of Drake or Kendrick. He didn't play "First-Person Shooter," mostly sitting out his Drake collabs except for "In The Morning." Instead, he stayed true to his own deep discography, playing more than 30 songs from his catalogue.
The earnest and introspective rapper has some serious superfans who can go bar for bar, and he tested that with one girl picked from the audience to rap along to "Johnny P's Caddie." For the most part, though, he kept the arena show accessible, admitting near the end that he wanted to keep the show open to those who only know his old stuff or maybe know a couple songs.
J. Cole at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on July 27, 2026. Gabriel Di Sante
He complimented Toronto, contrasting the city to his small-town upbringing in Fayetteville, North Carolina. We have big sports teams here, he said, and championships. He had a special shoutout to nearby Scarborough, Ontario, where he played professional basketball for the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) team the Scarborough Shooting Stars.
"Go to YouTube. I scored six points for the Scarborough Shooting Stars," he said in a self-deprecating monologue as fans cheered. "Two for two!"
"Just act like you ain't seen what I did in China though. Just erase that," he said, referring to the one game he played for the Nanjing Monkey Kings in 2026, scoring zero points in eight minutes. "Just act like Scarborough was my last game."
Other than that, there weren't many deep cuts for the die-hards who've been following the setlists online, but there was one local surprise. Local hero Casper TNG popped up with his collaborator 100BandPlan for a surprise opening set where he played his breakout Billboard Canadian Hot 100 charting hit "The Market."
Casper fulfilled a lifelong dream, playing in what he called the "ACC" (referring to the former name of the arena, Air Canada Centre) and continued his big year since signing a major label deal with Universal Music Canada.
Additional reporting by Malik Hinds.
