J. Cole’s Studio Raided by SWAT Team in March, Producer Says

According to producer Elite, J. Cole’s Dreamville studio in North Carolina was raided by a SWAT team in March, after his neighbors reportedly told authorities that drugs were being made/sold in the building. Cole and his associates were in Austin for SXSW at the time of the raid. In an interview with Complex, Elite explained the incident. “One of the neighbors told the police we were growing weed or selling drugs out of this house,” he said. “And there was a huge investigation, like a million-dollar investigation. They flew helicopters over, sent an entire SWAT team armed with weapons, broke down the door and searched the whole house.”

Elite continued, “They go downstairs and all they see is a studio, and obviously they felt stupid. It’s just crazy ironic because out of anybody, they picked the wrong person. J. Cole is the last person to do anything like that. He’s out here doing extremely positive things for the community and for young artists. Because of obvious racism from the neighbors, the police were called and a raid took place.”

The raid apparently inspired the song “Neighbors,” off Cole’s latest album 4 Your Eyez Only. The song’s hook goes, “I guess the neighbors think I’m sellin’ dope, sellin’ dope/Okay, the neighbors think I’m sellin’ dope, sellin’ dope.” Much of the new album was recorded at the studio where the incident took place.

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