Dreamville

Dreamville President Ib Confirms J. Cole’s Mixtapes Will Drop On DSPs If Kanye Clears Samples

by

Dreamville came through with another legendary festival over the weekend. Usher, Summer Walker, and more graced the stage while Drake and J Cole closed out Sunday night on a high note. Though Drake’s slew of guests, including Lil Wayne and Lil Uzi Vert, caught everyone’s attention, Cole’s surprising shout-out to Kanye West remains one of the most highly-discussed moments. Though Ye and J Cole have had their fair share of issues over the years, the Fayetteville native hoped to get Ye clear a few samples for him.

J. Cole’s iconic mixtape, Friday Night Lights, included many remixes of Kanye’s records. “Villematic,” which Cole performed on Sunday, samples Ye and Rick Ross’s “Devil In A New Dress.” It’s one of the many samples from Kanye’s catalog that Cole used in his mixtape but it seems that the Chicago artist is stalling the release of FNL on streamers. “Shout out to Kanye West,” Cole said after performing the song. “Please clear the sample for me, my brother. I appreciate it.”

Dreamville’s Ib Reveals J Cole “FNL” Hold Up

As artists like Lil Wayne and many others have taken their iconic mixtapes to streaming services, Friday Night Lights hasn’t followed suit, largely due to Kanye. Ibrahim Hamad, co-founder and president of Dreamville, reacted to Cole’s shout out on Twitter. He explained that the “GOMD” rapper used 10 Kanye beats on Friday Night Lights. Without Ye’s approval, it will be impossible to bring the project over to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music for commercial use.

“when y’all keep asking me everyday for FNL and The Warm Up and The Come Up on streaming just remember cole rapped on like 10 Kanye beats. I swear Once Kanye clears it I got y’all,” Ib said on Twitter. Though Cole hasn’t announced plans to release a project anytime soon, we’re hoping that his mixtapes will head to DSPs soon enough to hold us down in the meanwhile. Hopefully, Cole’s public plea will catch Ye’s attention in the near future. Check out Ib’s tweet above and let us know which one of Cole’s mixtapes you want to see on streaming services first. 

J. Cole Was Left Speechless After Summer Walker Beat Him At An Arcade Basketball Game

by
Summer Walker Dreamville Festival 2023
Getty Image

J. Cole hosted Dreamville Festival for yet another year at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina this weekend. The Dreamville boss reasserted his rap dominance as the co-headliner with Drake on Sunday, April 2, but his Cole’s otherwise pristine reputation as a hooper took a hit.

Summer Walker was not intimidated by Cole nor his presumed home-court advantage.

“[Cry-laughing emoji] ran it up at the Dave & Buster’s,” Walker captioned an Instagram reel. In it, Walker is coolly running up the score on the Pop-A-Shot. Cole stands beside her in amazement, putting his hands on his head and staring at her in disbelief.

An A&R consultant who was on hand confirmed that Walker actually beat Cole at the game.

Walker used her Sunday set at Dreamville Fest to confirm she’ll be dropping an EP, Clear 2: Soft Life, next month.

“Just wanted to let you guys know that I have an EP dropping May 19,” Walker said before finishing her set with “Insane,” a track from 2021’s Still Over It. “Go to my website if you wanna pre-order it. It’s a lil somethin’, somethin’. Clear. Y’all ready for some new music?”

Dreamville Festival also boasted Usher as the headliner on Saturday, April 1. Lil Durk, Ari Lennox, City Girls, Sean Paul, EarthGang, Jessie Reyez, Key Glock, Sir, Lute, Omen, Marqus Clae, Victony, JID, GloRilla, Bas, Waka Flocka Flame, Mario, Ayra Starr, Baby Tate, Cozz, Jordan Ward, Reuben Vincent, and Burna Boy rounded out the heavy-hitting lineup.

Clear 2: Soft Life is out 05/19 via LVRN/Interscope Records. Find more information here.

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

Summer Walker Confirmed When She’s Dropping Her ‘Clear 2: Soft Life’ EP At Dreamville Festival

by
Summer Walker Dreamville Festival 2023
Getty Image

Summer Walker hit a personal milestone at the beginning of this year. “I really reached my goal of hella kids before 30,” she wrote on her Instagram Story in January. “I’m so happy.” Walker welcomed twins, her second and third children after first welcoming a daughter, Bubbles, with her ex, London On Da Track, in 2021.

Now, it appears she’s ready to hit more professional milestones.

Walker announced her Clear 2: Soft Life EP will drop on May 19 while performing her set at Dreamville Festival on Sunday, April 2. (Her Clear EP arrived in January 2019.)

“Just wanted to let you guys know that I have an EP dropping May 19,” Walker told her audience. “Go to my website if you wanna pre-order it. It’s a lil somethin’, somethin’. Clear. Y’all ready for some new music?”

Walker finished her set by thanking J. Cole and Dreamville — “love all of you” for having her and performing “Insane” from her 2021 album, Still Over It.

Dreamville Festival was headlined by Usher on Saturday night, April 1, and co-headlined by Drake and J. Cole on Sunday. Away from the stage, Walker ruthlessly “ran it up at Dave & Buster’s, shocking Cole in the process:

Clear 2: Soft Life is out 05/19 via LVRN/Interscope Records. Find more information here.

What Was Drake’s Setlist From Dreamville Fest 2023?

by
Drake 2023 lil baby and friends
Getty Image

Usher pulled a cruel April Fools’ Day joke as a headliner at Dreamville Festival, leaving the Raleigh, North Carolina crowd briefly believing that Beyoncé was joining him on stage.

Drake wasn’t playing around with his co-headlining set on Sunday, April 2. He actually brought out 21 Savage, GloRilla, Lil Wayne, and Lil Uzi Vert. Dreamville boss and co-headliner J. Cole also made an appearance to close things out sentimentally.

“I’m such a fan, and I feel like I’m speaking for all of us when I say this, bro: We are f*cking wowed, amazed, blown away by your greatness, bro,” Cole said. “It gives a n**** chills to see you do this sh*t at the highest level, nonstop, and constantly serve us and bless us with the f*cking soundtrack to our lives, bro. I’m f*cking blown away by your greatness, bro.”

Drake and 21 Savage are preparing to head out on their It’s All A Blur Tour in June. Prepare yourself by checking out Drake’s Dreamville Fest 2023 setlist (as noted by setlist.fm) and footage from his performance below.

1. “Sicko Mode”
2. “Over”
3. “Headlines”
4. “HYFR (Hell Ya F*cking Right)”
5. “Started From The Bottom”
6. “Energy”
7. “Know Yourself”
8. “Nonstop”
9. “God’s Plan”
10. “FNF (Let’s Go)” with GloRilla
11. “XO Tour Llif3” with Lil Uzi Vert
12. “Just Wanna Rock” with Lil Uzi Vert
13. “Marvins Room”
14. “Wu-Tang Forever”
15. “Practice”
16. “The Motto” with Lil Wayne
17. “Uproar” with Lil Wayne
18. “A Milli” with Lil Wayne
19. “Knife Talk” with 21 Savage
20. “Rich Flex” with 21 Savage
21. “I Will Always Love You”

[WATCH] Summer Walker Announces ‘CLEAR 2: Soft Life’ EP During Dreamville Set

by
DSC00123SummerWalker 1

Summer Walker has announced the release of CLEAR 2: Soft Life EP for May 19. The singer announced the release during Amazon Music’s live stream of the 2023 Dreamville Festival.

The new EP is available for pre-order here.

You can catch a full recap of the Dreamville Festival here.

The post [WATCH] Summer Walker Announces ‘CLEAR 2: Soft Life’ EP During Dreamville Set appeared first on The Source.

Recap: J. Cole and Drake Close Out Epic Dreamville Fest Weekend

by
DSC00357JCole

J. Cole’s annual Dreamville Festival returned to North Carolina this weekend and did not disappoint. With a lineup that included some of the biggest names in hip-hop, the Raleigh music festival delivered a high-energy, diverse talent showcase and a memorable surprise-filled co-headlining performance by Drake and Cole to close the weekend.

Performances kicked off at the historic Dorothea Dix Park on Saturday with a range of rappers and singers, but not without an audible from Mother Nature, as high wind speeds delayed gates and set times by a few hours. Key Glock was also forced to cancel his set due to travel delays, but the festival was able to replace his set with Toosii and adjusted the set times to save the day. Once things got started, fans enjoyed performances from some of the most exciting female artists in hip-hop and R&B, like the City Girls, Ari Lennox, and Jessie Reyez, and sets from names like Lil Durk, Sean Paul, and Usher.

Usher’s headlining set on Saturday was a true spectacle, with the R&B icon delivering a 22-song high-energy performance that had the packed Raleigh crowd dancing and singing along to his endless catalog of hits like “Yeah,” “My Boo”, “Burn,” “U Got It Bad” and more. And with one of the cruelest April Fools jokes of the year, Usher got in the holiday spirit and pretended to bring out Beyonce for the Raleigh crowd, but he made it up to the public by continuing to sing and dance to his years of hits. Almost three decades removed from his self-titled debut, Usher still can win over a crowd with ease, and his classics from the 2000s remain classics today.

The massive crowds continued for Day 2 of the festival on Sunday, with early performances from Waka Flocka Flame, Dreamville’s Cozz and Bas, Mario, and more. The impressive performances didn’t stop as the sun went down, though, as evening and festival came to a close with sets from JID, Summer Walker, Burna Boy, and a very special set from J. Cole and Drake, which Dreamville fans will talk about for years to come.

The longtime friends and collaborators delivered an epic set, performing some of their biggest hits throughout the performance. J. Cole kicked things off, performing some of his biggest hits and many B-side records as a special treat for the crowd, including several performances joined by his Dreamville labelmates like JID, Earthgang, Bas, and more.

Next, Cole introduced Drake to the Dreamville crowd, as Drizzy kicked things off with his Travis Scott collab “Sicko Mode” to start things off with high energy. Drake has some surprises of his own, though, as he not only performed a catalog of his best tracks but he brought out several surprise guests, including Lil Uzi Vert, Glorilla, 21 Savage, and Lil Wayne. The night wasn’t over, though, as J. Cole returned to the stage to say goodbye with a performance of his “Forest Hills Drive” track “No Role Modelz.” 

Each rapper delivered a career-spanning collection of tracks that reminded fans of their come-up in rap as peers and how each artist has grown since the days of “The Come Up” and “Thank Me Later.” While both rappers could have closed out the festival in an unforgettable fashion on their own, the combination of the two alone, not to mention all the surprises, was worth the price of admission and won’t be matched by any other festival this year.

Dreamville Festival was not only an incredible weekend of music but also one of culture and community, and it’s no surprise that the fest has become one of the largest and most popular artist-led music festivals in the world, generating millions of dollars each year for the local and North Carolina economy.

Check out our favorite images from Dreamville 2023 below.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress


DSC09041LilDurk


DSC07376dreamville


DSC09476BabyTate


DSC09585Mario


DSC09926JID


DSC00123SummerWalker 1


DSC00164BurnaBoy


DSC00357JCole


DSC00447JCole


DSC00543JCole


DSC00297BurnaBoy


DSC08765CityGirls


DSC08728CityGirls


DSC08900AriLennox


DSC09171LilDurk


DSC09297Usher


DSC09252Usher


DSC09353Usher

The post Recap: J. Cole and Drake Close Out Epic Dreamville Fest Weekend appeared first on The Source.