"Neighbors"
Single by J. Cole
from the album 4 Your Eyez Only
ReleasedApril 25, 2017
Recorded2016
GenreConscious hip hop
Length3:36
Label
Songwriter(s)Jermaine Cole
Producer(s)J. Cole
J. Cole singles chronology
"High for Hours"
(2017)		 "Neighbors"
(2017)		 "KOD"
(2018)

"Neighbors" is a song by American rapper J. Cole, released on December 9, 2016, recorded for his fourth studio album, 4 Your Eyez Only.[1] It was released on April 25, 2017, as the second single off the album.[2]

Background

The song was recorded at the Sheltuh in North Carolina and Electric Lady Studios, and was produced and written by J. Cole himself. During an interview with Complex on December 9, 2016, Dreamville in-house producer, Elite explained the incident which occurred a few months prior that inspired the story in the track, "Neighbors", saying,[3]

Basically Cole rented out a house in North Carolina. It’s not for him; it’s like a safe haven/creative workspace for all the Dreamville artists and producers. We call it the Sheltuh, and a lot of the album was recorded there. It’s basically a studio in a basement, in the woods. It’s also in the suburbs of a pretty wealthy neighborhood in North Carolina. So you have, predominantly, African-Americans coming in and out of this house. Ubers coming, and every once in awhile you’ll see a group of us outside on the porch smoking weed. So the neighbors started getting real paranoid. Apparently what happened was, we were all in Austin, Texas, for SXSW; thankfully no one was in the house when this went down. One of the neighbors told the police we were growing weed or selling drugs out of this house. 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. Thankfully nobody was in the house. Our engineer Juro “Mez” Davis had just stepped out for lunch and he came back and saw the SWAT team busting down the door. 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.[4]

The song's instrumental was derived from a slowed-down, reversed sample of Cole's 2013 single, "Forbidden Fruit" which features Kendrick Lamar. "Forbidden Fruit" contains a sample of the song "Mystic Brew" by American Jazz musician Ronnie Foster. Cole revealed this during shows on his 4 Your Eyez Only World Tour, performing "Forbidden Fruit", then having the instrumental played in reverse as he transitioned into a performance of "Neighbors".[5]

Chart performance

Upon its first week of release, "Neighbors" debuted at number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number 8 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[6]

Music video

The music video of the song was released on May 1, 2017. Cole used the footage of the incident from the closed-circuit television of his house as the video. The video only plays the first verse of the song.[7]

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15] 2× Platinum 140,000‡
Portugal (AFP)[16] Gold 5,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] Gold 400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[18] 4× Platinum 4,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "4 Your Eyez Only by J. Cole on iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Top 40 Rhythmic Future Releases". All Access. Access Music Group. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  3. ↑ Ortiz, Edwin (December 9, 2016). "Here Are the Full Credits for J. Cole's '4 Your Eyez Only' Album". Complex. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  4. ↑ Ortiz, Edwin (December 10, 2016). ""The Album Is Largely From a Perspective That Isn't J. Cole's": Producer Elite on '4 Your Eyez Only'". Complex. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ "J. Cole's 'Neighbors' Beat is Really Just 'Forbidden Fruit' Backwards - XXL".
  6. ↑ "Hot 100 Chart Moves: Deja Vu for 'Deja Vu' & Maroon 5 Rules Radio, Tying Boyz II Men's Record". Billboard.
  7. ↑ "J. Cole - Neighbors". VEVO. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  8. ↑ "J. Cole Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  9. ↑ "J. Cole – Neighbors". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 14, 2017.
  11. ↑ "J. Cole Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  12. ↑ "J. Cole Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  13. ↑ "J. Cole Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Oct 2023 Single Accreds" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Portuguese single certifications – J Cole – Neighbors" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  17. ↑ "British single certifications – J Cole – Neighbors". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "American single certifications – J. Cole – Neighbours". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
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