In the intro to his 4 Your Eyez Only cut 'Neighbors,' J. Cole raps “I guess the neighbors think I’m sellin’ dope, sellin’ dope/ Okay, the neighbors think I’m sellin’ dope, sellin’ dope."
Right after the album dropped, Cole’s co-producer Elite explained that the track was about a mistaken drug raid on Cole's home-studio. We've since seen footage of the over-the-top SWAT Team entrance. (Which luckily happened when Cole wasn't there.)
[Related: Neighbors Is True Story of J. Cole's home studio being raided for drugs.]
During a recent show, Cole broke down what happened.
J. Cole tells the full story behind Neighbors. pic.twitter.com/oBpjhTT6kz
— Only Hip Hop Facts (@OnlyHipHopFacts) August 3, 2017
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“Tell me why, one day out the fucking blue, 15 fucking SWAT police officers wearing some ridiculous shit from the future… I ain’t never seen no shit like this,” Cole said. “You ever played Call of Duty? It looked like some shit off of Call of Duty. The shit they was wearing, I don’t think Donald Trump’s seen the shit they had on. I don’t know if he’s approved the shit yet. It’s some shit they’ve been saving for ISIS, but they brought it to my house for some fucking reason. These niggas show up at my door deep with big ass fucking guns. They bust in the house…”Here's footage of the raid.