Keepers Updated September 16, 2026
The Fall-Off

Is it worth it?

The Fall-Off

J. Cole · Album · Feb 6, 2026

49Not yet

Skip it for now. It scores 49, well short of the 85 a Keeper needs. The weakest part is the critic score.

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We score it again October 1.

Where the 49 comes from

Critics0/40

Critic score 68. A 70 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 40 points.

Audience11/20

Audience score 80. A 60 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 20 points.

Track record14/15

J. Cole has a long run of chart-topping albums and a Grammy win, though critics have been more mixed on him than fans.

Staying power24/25

It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 280,000 equivalent units, his seventh No. 1 album.

Image: Apple

Scores used: Average of Album of the Year critic score 69 (11 reviews) and Metacritic 67 (9 reviews); Album of the Year user score 80 (16,909 ratings). Numbers checked September 16, 2026. See the main source.

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How the score works

Albums, games, films and shows

  • Critics, 40. The published aggregate from Metacritic, OpenCritic, Album of the Year or Rotten Tomatoes. Almost everything reviewed lands between 70 and 98, so a 70 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 40.
  • Audience, 20. What people who paid for it say, from user scores and Steam reviews. A 60 earns nothing and a 98 earns all 20.
  • Track record, 15. Whether the people who made it have made things that lasted before. Debuts start lower on purpose.
  • Staying power, 25. What happens after launch week: chart runs, players who stick around, renewals, sales that keep going.

A Keeper is our bet on what lasts. Some releases show it right away: the reviews, the players and the people behind them all point the same way, the way they did for Elden Ring. For albums, games, films and shows, 85 or above is a Keeper and 75 to 84 is worth your time. Things need 80. We score everything again as time goes by, and a Keeper that fades loses the label. Nobody pays to be here or pays for a score. Every score links to where its numbers came from. Each one has a link to find it on Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate, Keepers earns from qualifying purchases.