J. Cole Talks to Inmates at San Quentin State Prison

Less than one month after sporting prison garb during the first leg of his 4 Your Eyez Only tour, J. Cole took the time to actually stop by a facility for men who face the grim reality of wearing them for the rest of their lives.

Though the timing is unclear, Cole and his Dreamville cohorts visited San Quentin State Prison in California to discuss the lives of those behind bars as the prisoners shared their stories. On Tuesday (Aug. 1), Dreamville President Ibrahim "Ib" Hamad posted several photographs of him and the crew as they toured the prison grounds. "We got the opportunity to spend the day at San Quentin State Prison talking and meeting inmates who will never see the outside again. That experience was a life changing experience and wish I had the ability to put that in a caption but that wouldn't be doing it justice," wrote Hamad in the caption.

Felton Brown, head of Dreamville's Art Direction and Graphic Design, was also in attendance, sitting alongside J. Cole as they spoke with inmates who are serving long-term sentences. "One of the most moving moments since this new journey," Brown captioned the photos. "Spent a day with some brothers who stories go unheard behind the wall. Learned a lot, so much work to be done. This system will try to not give you a voice but we're listening. ✊🏿"

J. Cole might be feeling empathetic towards the inmates after his neighbors falsely accused him of selling drugs, which resulted in a SWAT team being sent to his Sheltuh home recording studio. Footage of the incident—which occurred in March 2016—was used in the music video for "Neighbors," a lead single off of Cole's platinum selling album 4 Your Eyez Only.

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