Josh Sullivan - Social Media Producer
My biggest takeaway after Dreamville Festival founder J. Cole’s set on Sunday night was this: J. Cole is really just like Willie Nelson. Hear me out.
Country music legend Willie Nelson is the host of two music festval-style events: Outlaw Festival and Farm Aid. At the end of his set for each, in which he’s typically the headliner, Nelson is known for bringing out all of the festival performers to join him on stage, and perform with him. And during his set Sunday night, Cole did the same thing.
Benny the Butcher, Lil Yachty, Jeremih, Lil Durk, Central Cee, and nearly the entire Dreamville team joined Cole on stage during the middle portion of his set to perform both collaborations they had with the man of the hour, and some of their own hits.
It was both a display of talent and a way for J. Cole to pay respects to a long line of artists that have worked with him over his career in hip hop.
It's nearly impossible for an artist with as many hits as J. Cole, who headlined a festival that he created and hosted in his home state, to perform all of the songs that have defined his career. But his set pulled heavily from the album 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and even touted two songs off of the surprise album "Might Delete Later" – "H.Y.B." and "Crocodile Tears," which he opened up his set with.
As for the rest of the festival, there were high highs and low lows. J.I.D.'s performance on Saturday was incredible. There were psychedelic effects on the video screen, and he performed with a live drummer and keytar player. I’m always a sucker for a live band that performs during a hip hop show, and J.I.D.’s set lived up to the hype. Seeing "Stick" live has been on my bucket list since I first listened to the song.
But on Sunday, there were hiccups. Nicki Minaj started her set an hour late. Jeezy also came on later than scheduled, but went over his allotted time slot, and truly gave the crowd what it wanted. He opened with “Standing Ovation,” but stuck to his deeper cuts, avoiding the radio hits, and giving the slightly older-than-average crowd a trip down memory lane. That can be a bold move, but it paid off for Jeezy; the crowd was as engaged with his set as any all day, rapping along to every word and bouncing when bouncing was necessary. And perhaps, the most disappointing part for me, were the microphone issues during J. Cole’s set. Lute’s verse on “Under The Sun” was inaudible, due to technical issues. Benny the Butcher was too loud at one point. That’s the kind of stuff that’s surprising during a festival this big.
Kamaya Truitt - Director of Youth Reporting, New Talent, and Community Partnerships
As a first-time Dreamfest attendee, there are two words that resonated the loudest: Accessibility and community.
On a brisk Friday afternoon, I dove into the Dreamville weekend at Lutes Gold Mouf Garage. Hosted at CAM Raleigh, the free event was packed with local artists, organizers, and business owners. When attendees walked into the museum, they immediately heard the sounds of DJ’s scratching records, and folks hopping into the Dreamville booth to lay a track.
Although the exhibits included a collection of vintage Dreamville gear and interactive installations, the majority of folks were waiting for the surround sound panel. The crowd absorbed the knowledge J.I.D, Cristol, and Mixed by Ali gave on sound engineering and song writing. Ali spoke on how important it is to remove the barriers to entry by making resources more accessible.
This theme segued into the next day when I spoke to EARTHGANG about their new climate change initiative. Almost as if it was a music video, they emerged from the roof of a Land Rover, and I was oblivious until Josh pointed and said, “Is that EARTHGANG?” This was a complete fan girl moment for me. Not only am I from Atlanta, but I’ve been following EARTHGANG since their 2015 album “Strays with Rabies”.
Before I got into radio, I was a poet, and the way they are able to do lyrical gymnastics over beats significantly influenced my writing style. Listening to them talk about their community outreach and hopes for their new climate change initiative further solidified my life long fandom. And it's not just because I like their music, but I admire how down to earth they are. Get it?
That's why community and accessibility are the words that keep standing out in my mind. All of the artists we interviewed felt like family. Domani, who was wearing an all-white jumpsuit, gave me a hug, even though I warned him about the potential of make-up getting on his jacket. I had a chance to ask Mez about how North Carolina influences his writing and he eloquently described how this is his safe space to write. North Carolina provides a space where he can focus on his craft. And that right there is what I valued the most about this experience.
When the fans asked questions, they gave genuine answers, and sometimes shared resources. Even the festival attendees and staff felt like my cousins by the end of Saturday. I’m not sure if you have ever swag surfed with someone from South London and Compton, but it's definitely a unifying experience. North Carolina organizations like Fertile Ground Food Cooperative, and the NC Black Alliance came out with the lawn games, giving the festival a real family reunion or cookout vibe.
Day two of the festival was definitely a journey: some sets had sound issues, Nicki Minaj showed up an hour late, and J.Cole’s sound was sporadically awful. But my biggest takeaway is, this festival isn’t just the place where you listen to the artist you love, it's the place where you can be unapologetically you. The creative expression that I saw throughout the weekend was inspiring, and yes, things could have been better, but the conversations and connections made the hiccups a little less intense. Plus, ScHooboy Q performed all of my favorite songs. What more can I ask for?
Caitlin Leggett - Youth Reporting Institute Producer
My second Dreamville Festival was a full circle event, being that the first time I attended in 2022 was through connections and finesse. I didn’t have access to the media tents, the photo pits, or backstage, like I did this year. Not to toot my own horn but I felt as if I had come a long way from sneaking around the festival two years ago.
The weekend was chalked full of community, creativity, “fan-girl” moments, and unfortunately, some technical setbacks. Despite its flaws, the festival offered unparalleled access to performers with engaging pre-festival events like yoga sessions, block parties, interactive panels and more.
The festivities commenced with a week-long build-up of activities, setting the stage for the main event. Notable pre-festival events included guided yoga and meditation sessions led by Olu from EARTHGANG and the lively Gold Mouf Garage block party at the CAM Art Museum parking lot.
The latter also marked the conclusion of the Dreamville x Amazon Music x EngineEars audio production workshop college tour, featuring panel discussions with industry luminaries such as Mixed by Ali and DJ HED. I thought this was especially fitting because Dreamville as a label is typically “tight lipped” with who they let in their circle, but this gave fans an opportunity to learn from their favorites.
The actual festival began on Saturday and as I took the long walk onto the grounds of the Dorothea Dix Park Saturday, the brisk air threatened to blow my “Cowboy Carter” hat away. However, the vibrant energy of the quickly growing crowd of 52,000 warmed the atmosphere.
After hearing performances by artists like Domani and Amararae, we quickly transitioned to backstage interviews, where a familial atmosphere pervaded. Conversations with artists such as Olu, Bas, Mez, Reuben Vincent, Lute, and Domani offered unique insights into their creative processes and personal journeys.
Domani shared how the rich heritage of North Carolina hip-hop significantly influences his musical style and lets him create his own lane despite having Atlanta legends in his family. Bas reflected on his experience bridging the gap between the African diaspora and America through collaborations with artists on his current tour, underscoring the unifying power of music.
With Olu, we delved into his passion for yoga, wellness, and self-meditation, shedding light on his holistic approach to creativity and self-care. This was especially exciting for me because the first time that I met Olu, I didn’t know who he was. Now he’s one of my favorite artists. The camaraderie among artists backstage was comparable to a family cookout.
Performances ran loosely on schedule, up until a point, with the standouts of the weekend being duo Rae Sremmurd and Sexyy Red. That was the best performance of the weekend, in my opinion. She delivered an electrifying performance, captivating the crowd with back-to-back hit songs while fans waved “Sexyy for President" signs.
However, technical issues and timeliness marred some performances. At the time that Monica’s DJ came out, her set was supposed to be ending. Nicki Minaj took it a step further and showed up an hour late for her scheduled performance. Now as an “undercover Barb,” I expected more than short song snippets after an hour's wait.
Notably, Nigerian artist Rema experienced severe sound problems that led to a shortened set that didn’t even include his hit song "Calm Down." I think Rema felt targeted, as he responded “Why do you treat Nigeria like this?” But little did he know that even the pinnacle of the festival was not immune to technical malfunctions.
J. Cole experienced the worst sound issues of the weekend. He even made the attempt to compensate by sharing mics with surprise guests Lil Durk, Benny the Butcher, and Central Cee, demonstrating a commitment to delivering a memorable experience for fans.
Despite the technical difficulties, throughout the weekend, a prevailing theme of mutual care and support underscored the festival experience. Acts like Lil Yachty and J.I.D. encouraged safety during crowd activities, while J. Cole's vigilant attention to medical emergencies exemplified the ethos of looking out for one another.
In a poignant moment, J. Cole's apology to Kendrick Lamar following their recent rap beef exemplified the southern hospitality and humility characteristic of North Carolina. He said, “It’s the lamest thing I’ve ever done.” As a J. Cole stan, my thought is that it showed humility. However, as a lover of hip hop culture my response to this apology can be chalked up to one Kendrick Lamar bar: “I remember you was conflicted/misusing your influence.”
Dreamville Festival 2024 served as a valuable learning experience, highlighting the complexities of organizing large-scale events while celebrating the transformative power of music and community.
Brian Burns - Music Director
This was my second time at Dreamville and as someone who has been to dozens of festivals, I really feel like this one is something special. Community is so important to the organizers and that’s clear as soon as you walk through the gates.
Before you get to the main stages, the first things you see are art installations from local artists. There were several murals, some really cool light installations in the park’s trees, and also some bigger pieces that all shared a similar theme.
Some were tributes to Dreamville the label and its roster, and other pieces commented more on social justice and peace. It was all so impressive and made me feel proud of the city for producing such talent and happy for the artists who I’m sure were thrilled to have their work on display at a festival with so many big-name artists and over 50,000 fans there to admire their work.
As for the music itself - tech issues aside - it was great. On Saturday it took me a bit longer to get onto the grounds than expected and I was bummed to miss Amaarae and Teezo Touchdown, but I caught the end of EARTHGANG’s set and was really glad I did. I’ve seen them twice before and love the energy they bring to the stage and also their dedication to important social issues (check out Kamaya’s interview for more on that). My favorite sets of the day came from ScHoolboy Q, Sexyy Red, J.I.D., and SZA.
It felt like there were a lot of people there on Saturday, but Sunday felt even denser. This made it a little bit more difficult to navigate the day, but once I was in it didn’t really matter.
That being said, there were some tech issues that were a bit of a bummer. Rema was probably the artist I was looking forward to seeing the most the entire weekend. He’s from Nigeria so it felt really special to be able to catch his show, but after taking a while to come out, once he did, he had to stop and start each song several times before walking off stage three songs in due to sound issues in his monitor.
There were also microphone issues during J Cole’s set that kind of killed the energy for the special guests he was bringing out. With all of that aside, the sets I caught by Jeezy, Rae Sremmurd, and Bas were great.
Finally, I’ll say that hanging out with Josh, Kamaya, and Caitlin and watching them work in the press tent was amazing. Watching them capture and create content on the fly like that in such a busy environment was really inspiring. I loved the energy of everything going down in the media tent but felt especially happy to be there with the crew I was there with. Can’t wait for next year!
