J. Cole just told XXL in his new cover story that he has plans of flooding the game with music in 2019, and apparently that includes more than just his own projects. Sources close to Young Thug have just confirmed that Cole will be serving as the executive producer on Thugger's new album, and that the pair have already begun recording sessions in New York City.

The pairing of Cole and Thug doesn't exactly come from left field, as Cole has been co-signing Thug for some time now. Just after announcing he'd be bringing the Atlanta rapper with him to open on his KOD tour in 2018, Cole told radio host Angie Martinez how much of a fan he is of Thug's work.

"He's just ill," Cole said. "If you wanna talk about Thug as like, an artist, he's an innovator. You can call him a mumble rapper all you want, but if you know skills and the art of rapping, and you know like, how you put words together, you know pockets, you know flows, you know the things he does with his voice, dude is a genius."

It's unclear if Cole is working on the most recent project that Thug teased, Barter 7, or an entirely new concept. The album follows Thug's 2018 EP, On the Rvn.

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