J. Cole Returns To Alma Mater St. John’s University For Trunk Sale Tour

J. Cole pulled up to his old stomping grounds over the weekend with a trunk full of CDs and a whole lot of nostalgia.

The North Carolina rapper rolled his Honda Civic right up to Montgoris Dining Hall at St. John’s University in Queens. Students rushed the car as Cole stepped out, ready to sell physical copies of The Fall Off straight from his trunk.

This wasn’t just another stop on Cole’s cross-country Trunk Sale Tour. St. John’s holds special meaning for the Grammy winner who graduated from the university in 2007 with a communications degree and business minor.

Cole earned a 3.82 GPA during his time at the Queens campus. He attended on a partial scholarship while chasing his Hip-Hop dreams in New York City.

The surprise visit marked Cole’s first public appearance on campus since the 2016 Tip Off event. According to The Torch, Students had no warning that he was coming.

“I was a delusional teenager from Fayetteville, North Carolina, who had decided to leave home and ‘come up’ to New York City on a dream-chasing mission,” J. Cole wrote on X about his journey to the city.

Students brought everything they could find for autographs. Vinyl records, old CDs, paintings, and even student ID cards got signed by the rapper.

The Fall Off represents more than just another album release for Cole. He’s called it his final studio project, completing a story that began with his first mixtape, The Come Up.

The trunk sale concept takes Cole back to his roots. He’s been driving the same Honda Civic across multiple states, selling CDs directly to fans instead of relying on traditional retail.

Thanks for the love. Tired!!! Taking the weekend off to spend with the family. The plan is to head out again next week. Peace

— J. Cole (@JColeNC) February 14, 2026

Previous stops on the tour include North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, DC, Virginia, and Maryland. Each location brought out hundreds of fans eager to buy physical copies.

The rapper revealed he is taking the week off before hitting the road again for the rest of his tour.

The Queens campus visit felt different, though. This was homecoming territory for Cole, who spent four years walking these same paths as a student.

Related