Dreamville

The Dreamville Festival Lineup Has Some Serious Surprises Beyond J. Cole

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J.Cole’s Dreamville Festival is back for its second year. This time around, the fest has expanded into a two-day format, taking place on April 2nd and 3rd in Raleigh, North Carolina. And while J. Cole himself will be playing a headlining set to close out the festival on Sunday, it’s the rest of the imaginative lineup that sets this apart as a choice hip-hop function.

Kehlani, Wizkid, and Lil Baby make up a formidable headlining slate, but Dreamville Fest doesn’t stop there. DJ Drama will be making his first-ever Gangsta Grillz performance with Lil Wayne, Jeezy, and T.I., and Ja Rule and Ashanti will be reuniting on stage for a performance. The entire Dreamville records roster — including Ari Lennox, JID, Bas, EarthGang, and Cozz — will be performing too.

Dreamville Festival takes place at Dorothea Dix Park, the largest city park in Raleigh, which boasts over 300 acres of sprawling public green space. Other acts also appearing over the weekend include Moneybagg Yo, Wale, Rico Nasty, Fivio Foreign, Larry June, Bia, Morray, Blxst, T-Pain, Lute, Mereba, Mikhala Jené, The Hics, and Omen.

Tickets for Dreamville Festival are on-sale now here and check out the event website for full details.

Dreamville 2022 lineup
Dreamville

Some of the artists mentioned here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Rick Ross Has A Solution For Ari Lennox’s Dreamville Gripe: ‘Wingstop’

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Ari Lennox has had enough. She made her feelings abundantly clear this week that she wants out of her Dreamville/Interscope Records deal following the backlash she received online following an interview with Johannesburg-based Podcast And Chill podcast. “I want to be dropped from the labels. I’m done and tired,” Lennox said in a since deleted tweet.

From where I’m standing, an interviewer asking a female artist “Is someone f*cking you good right now?” is not something that constitutes healthy music media practices — regardless of whether or not it’s a reference to one of the artist’s songs. Come on, dawg. So Lennox’s annoyance with the internet peanut gallery (in another since-deleted tweet) seems warranted. “For Christ sakes,” she wrote. “I realize I have no hits. I realize you all can live without hearing my music. I realize my complaining is so aggravating to y’all. I don’t ask blogs to post me when I’m at my worst. You judgmental self-hating parasites wouldn’t last a day as a signed artist.”

Hardly a peacemaker, Rick Ross decided to join the peanut gallery with his thoughts on what might make Lennox feel better about her displeasure with the label. “She needs @wingstop,” he commented on an Instagram post from hip-hop gossip account The Shade Room. Never mind that Ross owns over 25 Wingstop franchises himself, including one that he recently bought for his son’s 16th birthday.

And while Ross’ was the top comment on that Instagram post for a while, it’s now the second most liked comment to one from user @n.askey, who said “I think all her songs are hits to me !!! I love her.” Looks like today, love prevails over snark and self-promotion. Holler.

Cozz Drops Some Bouncy ‘Juice Bars’ On ‘UPROXX Sessions’

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Fresh off the release of his new EP Fortunate, Inglewood rapper Cozz drops by UPROXX Sessions for a performance of the EP’s bouncy track “Juice Bars.” Over a funky, bass-driven beat produced by Meez, the Dreamville rapper delivers his take on the label’s lyrical formula, boasting, “Every day of the week, I get to play with the beat.”

Fortunate, released December 2, marks Cozz’s return to the spotlight after taking a three-year break since the release of his Dreamville debut album, Effected. Since then, he had a star turn on the Dreamville compilation Revenge Of The Dreamers III with the eyebrow-raising “Lambo Truck” alongside TDE rapper Reason. Cozz’s comeback proper kicked off in October this year with the release of the EP’s title song, which he quickly followed up with “Addicted,” the project’s second single.

This past weekend, he performed songs from the EP, as well as “Lambo Truck,” at Rolling Loud California in San Bernardino, receiving a warm response from the crowd that suggests anticipation for his next full-length project has increased as a result of his latest release. Watch him perform “Juice Bars” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

Cozz Takes Stock Of His Life And The Lessons He’s Learned On The Introspective ‘Fortunate’ EP

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It just might be Dreamville season again. Only two months after North Carolina Dreamville rapper Lute released his long-awaited second studio album, Gold Mouf, another member of the throwback rap-centric crew has returned with his own comeback project. Inglewood native Cozz, who featured on Gold Mouf alongside Lute, has released his own EP, Fortunate, marking the end of a three-year wait for the follow-up to his 2018 debut album, Effected.

The EP consists of seven songs, including the previously released singles “Fortunate” and “Addicted.” It features production by longtime Dreamville beatmaker Elite, frequent crew colalborator T-Minus, and the group’s team captain J. Cole, as well as a guest appearance by fellow West Coast veteran YG, who appears on “Control Problems.”

Unfortunately, the release had a technical hiccup, resulting in the track order getting mixed up on DSPs. Cozz addressed the issue on Twitter, writing, “No lie I’m frustrated cuz I had an idea of how I want people to hear this ep but technical difficulties ddnt allow that to happen. What’s below is the order so if u care enough, listen as is but if not f*ck it the music is the same. This will be fixed by Friday enjoy. In other words the order is completely wrong on every listening platform.”

Fortunate is out now via Dreamville/Interscope Records. You can stream it here.

Cozz Is Grateful To Be Alive In His Moody ‘Fortunate’ Video

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Inglewood-bred Dreamville rapper Cozz returns with a moody video for his new single, “Fortunate,” after having a relatively quiet couple of years since his last album. The video finds Cozz sitting in a wrecked car, having apparently survived a harrowing front-end collision. Throughout the video, Cozz expresses his gratitude and grapples with his vices, a struggle represented by haunting religious imagery and his pained crooning on the song’s confessional chorus.

When we last heard from Cozz, he was cutting up on the Dreamville compilation Revenge Of The Dreamers III, threatening to rob his own label boss alongside fellow West Coaster Reason on “Lambo Truck” and dismissing pushy groupies on “Don’t Hit Me Right Now” alongside Bas, Buddy, Guapdad 4000, and Yung Baby Tate. Before that, he established himself as a lyrical force with his debut album, Effected which featured both his Dreamville boss J. Cole and King of LA, Kendrick Lamar.

More recently, Cozz could be heard assisting his Dreamville compatriot Lute on his new album Gold Mouf and Uproxx regulars may recognize him making a few appearances in our music video show React Like You Know, joining our panel of 20-somethings to give his impressions on videos like Fabolous’ “So Into You.”

Watch Cozz’s “Fortunate” video above and stay tuned.

J. Cole Protégé Lute Reflects On Beating Life’s Obstacles W/ ‘Myself’ Video

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Dreamville’s Lute is on his music grind. The hip-hop artist pulls through with his new “Myself” music video. The J. Cole protégé links up with Charlotte, North Carolina native DEVN for the soulful anthem. Lute flexes signs of confidence while also rapping about things he’s overcome. It’s not all celebrating though, Lute is still determined […]