Fans of hip-hop and R&B were not disappointed when J. Cole released the full line-up for his annual Dreamville music festival. The Fayetteville native is holding the festival from April 1-2 at Dorothea Dix Park and has invited a variety of artists to perform, mixing together large names with industry newcomers that have big potential. The event also serves as an annual reunion for musicians signed to Cole’s label, Dreamville Records.
Here are a few of the 27 featured artists you won’t want to miss.
Drake is the largest name performing with almost 70 million monthly listeners on Spotify. With the amount of success Drake has achieved over the past decade, I was shocked to see his name on the lineup, but I’m excited nonetheless. Although “Her Loss” and “Certified Lover Boy” were both very popular, I hope he includes more tracks from “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” and “Take Care.” Drake has a long discography of well-produced songs, so it’lll be hard for him to mess up. Unless, of course, he opts to include “One Dance” in his set.
Key Glock defines himself as “in the streets, not industry,” and this is reflected in the rawness of his music. He strictly avoids including features on his albums, the only exception being his collaborative albums with his cousin Young Dolph, who passed away in November 2021. Glock will definitely include “Ambition For Cash” and “Gang S— No Lame S—” in his set, and hopefully, fans will also hear “Mr. Glock,” “Jigsaw” and “1 Hell of a Life.”
City Girls, made up of Yung Miami and JT, originally gained popularity after making an uncredited appearance on Drake’s “In My Feelings” and have since made a name for themselves with hits such as “Act Up” and “P—- Talk.” In addition to these tracks, the duo will likely also include “Rodeo,” “Drip” and “Where The Bag At” in their set and pair them with extravagant outfits and dance moves.
Earthgang, consisting of Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot, are founders of the Atlanta-based music collective Spillage Village and one of the eight artists signed with Dreamville Records. They describe Atlanta as “Black people just being unafraid and unapologetically creative” and draw inspiration from this in their music. Some tracks to listen for during their performance include “Proud of U,” “Bank” and “BILLI.”
Usher has released new music recently, but nothing will top the cultural phenomenon that he was during the 2000s — hopefully, he taps into that era when choosing a setlist. I cannot imagine that he wouldn’t perform “Yeah!,” his biggest hit to date, and hopefully he opts for “My Boo” and “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” rather than his new single “GLU.”
Finally, J. Cole himself. Not only has he provided a space for a variety of artists, vendors and community organizations, but his performance has always been a highlight of the entire festival. In addition to certain tracks by the Dreamville Records group, he’ll likely focus on older albums, such as “2014 Forest Hills Drive” and “Born Sinner” — they feature his most successful solo tracks. It would be a crime if he didn’t include “Middle Child” in his set and hopefully he gives the people what they want and chooses to include a few tracks off of “KOD” as well.
General Admission tickets are still available and can be found here.
