When asked about his friendship with Drake in 2010, J. Cole told Vice magazine: “We’re not in the position to be best friends; we can save that for when we’re both laid up and chilling, but right now we both have work to do.”
Thirteen years later, the two co-headlined Cole’s own Dreamville Festival for a crowd 50,000 deep.
The event was hosted at Dorothea Dix Park in downtown Raleigh. The two stages, “Rise” and “Shine,” sat at opposite ends of the park with performances altering between them.
Due to a severe weather warning, Saturday’s start-time was pushed from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Victony, the first artist set to perform, was forced to cancel while openers’ set times were cut short from 45 minutes to 30. Headlining artists–such as Lil Durk and Ari Lennox–were shortened from one hour to 40 minutes.
Safety was a high priority for the festival, especially after the 2021 Astroworld Fest crowd surge left eight concert-goers dead. Free water bottles were handed out to tackle dehydration, and medics stood above crowds to survey for incidents.
Usher, the eight-time Grammy Award winner, finally took the Shine stage just before ten o’clock, wearing an electric blue suit and announcing that Beyonce would be joining him before letting the crowd know it was an April Fool’s joke.
As early as noon on Sunday, visitors were camping out at the Shine stage for J. Cole and Drake’s headlining performance at 9:15 that night. Those who camped out got to watch openers like Summer Walker and Waka Flocka, whose eccentric performance was cut short after DJ Whoo Kid climbed the scaffolding of the sound booth. However, Glorilla no-showed her 5:00 performance, leaving a slightly agitated crowd.
The crowd seemed rowdy with anticipation: people were packed shoulder to shoulder, often pushing and prodding others for a chance to move closer to the stage.
At the other end of Dorothea Dix Park, the Rise stage saw drama in Burna Boy’s performance. Some fans speculated that his anger was partially due to his smaller crowd, as his set directly preceded the headliners while on the opposite end of the park. When Burna Boy was told that he had ten minutes to finish his set, he took his frustration public.
“They told me I only have a few minutes left,” he said. “Somebody tell Dreamville I do what the [expletive] I want. Let J. Cole know.”
Cole opened with an electric performance of “MIDDLE CHILD,” a song originally recorded in a local Raleigh studio in 2019, then followed up with two songs from The Off Season, his most recent album, and two more from 2014 Forest Hills Drive.
Cole then brought out members of Dreamville Records, including Lute, JID, Bas, EARTHGANG and Cozz, all of whom had performed solo earlier in the weekend. They performed “Under The Sun,” “Down Bad” and “Stick” from Revenge of the Dreamers III, the collective’s third compilation album, released in 2019.
After performing back-to-back hits of “G.O.M.D,” “Wet Dreamz” and “Love Yourz” from 2014 Forest Hills Drive, Cole brought Drake on stage.
Drake moved through his setlist chronologically, starting with his 2010 hit “Over” followed by “Headlines,” “HYFR,” “Started From the Bottom,” “Energy,” “Know Yourself,” “Nonstop” and “God’s Plan.”
As for surprise guests, Drake brought out Glorilla–who had skipped her set two hours earlier–and Lil Uzi Vert. After a few more songs, Lil Wayne came on to play “Uproar” and “A Milli.” Then, following an announcement for a joint tour, Drake and 21 Savage performed “Knife Talk” and “Rich Flex.”
One strange-yet-heartfelt moment of the night came when J. Cole came back on the stage. Drake spent time praising him as a long-term friend and admirer and, with the help of the crowd, serenaded him with “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston.
“This man right here, bro, I was such a fan,” Cole said, returning the love. “I feel like I am speaking for all of us when I say this: we are wowed, amazed, blown away by your greatness, bro. It gives me chills to see you do this … at the highest level, non-stop and constantly… I am blown away by your greatness. Y’all make some noise for Drizzy Drake!”
