J. Cole Releases 'Friday Night Lights' on Streaming: 'This Is a Very Special Moment for Me'

Fourteen years after its mixtape release on websites like Datpiff, the third J. Cole mixtape Friday Night Lights has arrived on streaming services.

Originally released on November 12, 2010, Friday Night Lights is widely considered to be his first commercial mixtape and followed his first two mixtapes, The Come Up and The Warm Up.

Friday Night Lights—which was Cole's final mixtape before releasing his 2011 album Cole World: The Sideline Story—features Wale, Drake, Dreamville artist Omen, along with Kanye West, Pusha T, CyHi The Prynce, and Big Sean on G.O.O.D. Music cut "Looking for Trouble."

The fifth episode of Cole's limited audio podcast series, Inevitable, which delves into the mixtape's creation, coincided with the Friday Night Lights re-release on Wednesday.

"This is a very special moment for me. Been waiting patiently for this day, like a lot of y’all have," Cole wrote in a celebratory X post. "I wanna say Thank you to everybody out there that kept these projects alive, even during all the years they were not on streaming services, especially this project right here. Friday Nights Lights finally available now on all platforms."

Tracks from Friday Night Lights were originally intended to be on his debut LP, but because his label didn't believe the album would sell, Cole released the songs and additional freestyles as a mixtape.

A Sideline Story would be completely revamped with FNL song "In the Morning," featuring Drake, being the only track to make the album cut. Friday Night Lights would go on to take home Mixtape of the Year at the 2011 BET Hip-Hop Awards.

Also celebrating the mixtape re-release on X was Ibrahim "Ib" Hamad, Dreamville co-founder and Cole's longtime manager.

This week it was announced the next installment of Dreamville Fest will return to Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 5 and 6, 2025.