The early hours look enchanting on the city of Raleigh, North Carolina. The nine-hour bus commute from New York allowed plenty of J. Cole’s lyrics to flow through my headphones, including the poignant reminder of faith and ambition from 2014 Forest Hills Drive standout track, “January 28th.” “If you believe in God/ one things for sure/If you ain’t aim too high, Then you aim too low.” As the moderate water vapor filled the brisk air in the 5 a.m. hour, the ambition of that song would later translate to a joyous hymn of harmony at the inaugural Dreamville Festival.
It’s not the only festival to excite the college town as KIX 102.9, Carolina’s Greatest Hits radio station ran an ad for the city’s upcoming Midtown Music Festival. Promises of hip-hop dancers and stilt walkers in May might make residents’ hearts smile, but what embarked on the city hours later would serve as a family reunion for thousands of J.Cole’s fans and a new identity for the cozy city.
Dreamville Festival was born three years ago with Cole, label creative director Adam Rodney, label president Ibrahim “IB” Hamad and ScoreMore president Sascha Stone Guttfreund meeting with city leaders to secure Dorothea Dix Park as their foundation for the event that would later welcome 40,000 people from across the country.
“We knew that North Carolina was a prime location for a festival,” Hamad tells VIBE. “There’s nothing like this kind of magnitude there.” Dreamville executive Derick Okolie also explained the method in not only setting up Raleigh as a hub for Dreamville fans but an area where artists can thrive in their craft.
“It was important for Cole,” he said. “Cole always talks about how you meet a lot of great talent from ‘Carolina, whether it’s musicians but also creatives as a whole. He always said he ran to New York to do [music] because he thought he couldn’t do it here in ‘Carolina, and he might’ve been right. What he wants to do now is turn it around and give the next Cole, the next Bas, the next J.I.D, the next Ari Lennox the opportunity to come here, stay here and work here; you can find us and we can find you.”
It’s not a lost idea that artists are taking a liking to the festival space. Fellow melanin-driven events like Tyler The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival, The Roots Picnic, Childish Gambino’s immersive PHAROS experience and Jay-Z’s Made In America have provided successful blueprints for how artists can lure day one fans into trekking across the country for a memorable show. The difference in the “For Us By Us” landscape is Cole’s ability to make Dreamville Fest an honest gathering for his wide-ranging fans.
Raleigh’s cultural footprint has always been rooted in advancement. After the Civil War, the city formed its scholarly identity with Shaw University, one of the oldest historically black colleges, in 1865. Many institutions followed after like Saint Augustine and North Carolina State University, known widely for its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) program.
Dreamville’s injection of hip-hop culture leaves visitors more inclined to stick around. With slick precision, the city’s personality has shifted from a traditional college town to a city where youth are inspired to look beyond the thick forests and see an opportunity for their own wildest dreams. Just a glimpse at our footage captured with the Samsung Galaxy 10+ (video above) shows this.
With Raleigh in destination conversations with other cities like Houston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, the area now has an opportunity to provide cultural and economic wealth to its residents. Here are just some of the coordinators, fans, and artists who made it happen.
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Bringing Dreamville Festival’s Communal Vision To Life
Derick Okolie, Head of Strategy and Marketing For Dreamville
We always looked at Dreamville as a state of mind or a community rather than an actual tangible place. I’ve been going to EDM Festivals and all these big festivals and just thought, “How come we can’t do this?” And today, we can put our Dreamville flag in the ground and be like, “This is Dreamville Fest, pull up,” and 40,000 kids did which is awesome.
We care. That’s the bottom line. Of course, you want to make money in anything you do in business but that’s not the driver. We’re not charging a $1,000 for tickets or shoving the partners down your throat to make an extra dollar. Cole cares. I’m a snitch but Cole is watching the livestream like “You need to fix this, you need to fix that” from his hotel. Homie cares.
Adam Rodney, Dreamville Creative Director
The real advantage to an artist-driven festival is that you’re being an ambassador for this place, this entity you’re creating. No knock to those other festivals but this isn’t a corporate thing. We wanted to make this a homecoming for our fans and family and that’s special.
My 75-year-old mother called me talking about Dreamville because she saw it on the news.
Celestine Stamper
Ibrahim “IB” Hamad, Dreamville President
We thought if we can do it right, people would come every year since they’re aware of what we’re bringing as far as, curation and believing that we would put together the best event, lineup, and concert together for them.
You can drive here from Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky, Tennessee, etc. so it’s a perfect location right there in front of that Interstate 95. People are treating it like a getaway and are excited to come to North Carolina and it’s great. With Cole being from North Carolina, being able to bring something there, that’s exciting.
Local Fans And Beyond Catch A Glimpse Of A Hometown Hero
Miya “YaYa” Morant, 19
Hometown: Durham, North Carolina
Attendee
I saw a lot of familiar faces whether it was from my city (Bull City) or people I saw at other Cole concerts. It was definitely a Dreamville family reunion. I didn’t even wanna leave when it was over. It was maybe over 40,000 people there and not a stranger in sight, all love. Every artist showed out especially J.I.D., he really shocked me with his performance.
The whole crowd was going crazy. Watching Cole up on stage and seeing how many people were out there supporting made me tear up a little. I’ve been following Cole since a jit and seeing how big he’s become and witnessing the movement he started made me so proud! I definitely got my money’s worth.
Parrish Mitchell, 25
Hometown: Queens, New York
Festival Ambassador
Sascha Stone Guttfreund got me this gig when I attended JMBLYA in Texas last year. It was fun yet emotional since we lost one of our brothers Hassan last week. He was one of the biggest fans the world had to offer so I made sure I celebrated for him. As a fan, the festival felt like a reunion since a lot of us fans grew up together. We’ve seen each other graduate, get real adult jobs and chase our dreams.
We care. That's the bottom line.
Derick Okolie, Head of Strategy and Marketing For Dreamville
Eugene Vernikov, 27
Web Developer
Born in Ukraine, raised in Brooklyn, NY
I hopped on a discount bus from Canal Street in Manhattan and got there on time and in haste. I thought everyone was friendly and open. To see him perform at a maiden venue located near his hometown is simply a recipe for magic. And that’s really what the event ended up being…pure magic.
I think with some infrastructure adjustments, Dreamville Festival (which they should rename DreamFest since it’s a dream of an event) could be the next destination for music lovers anywhere, the next OVO Fest or Coachella. It could expand and grow along with the city. That would be amazing!
Sheena Simpkins, 29
Entrepreneur
Born in New York, resides in Raleigh
I was inspired to attend Dreamville Festival because J. Cole is one of my fiancé Roshane’s favorite artists. I purchased these tickets for his birthday. It was also perfect that it was in Raleigh and we didn’t have to travel far. Roshane felt like it was a family reunion because he saw a lot of his friends and people he knew from college since he went to undergrad here at NC State. Beside our feet hurting and going numb, we really enjoyed the festival.
We're gonna do it next year and the year after that and have bigger acts and better and people you wouldn't expect. We got Davido to come out from Nigeria. That's a beautiful thing. It could be J. Balvin, it could be Beyonce. The sky's the limit. Just keep talking to us as fans and we'll get it poppin.
Derick Okolie
Raleigh has grown tremendously over the last few years and it’s been a blessing to the original residents that grew up here because there wasn’t too much to do 10-15 years ago. Most residents of Raleigh have relocated here from out of state due to education, jobs, and cost of living. The festival was a great addition to the fast-growing city. For Dreamville to be here was a big deal and for J. Cole to come back home to North Carolina to put this together was greatly appreciated by most North Carolina residents. As residents of Raleigh, we appreciate it because we want more concerts, festivals, and tours in this city. We’re both from New York City so the more things to do the better. We would definitely support another one.
Dreamville’s Random Acts Of Blackness
Omen, Dreamville Artist
In a sense, I’ve been on a hiatus with my music so it’s like I wasn’t sure if people were going to come to the set. Seeing tons of people out there allowed the nerves to go away. They knew the words to my songs and I can tell a lot of people were here to see me. I’ve seen people in the crowd that have been coming to shows for years, where I know them and they’ve become supporters so it’s a dope moment for everybody. As an adult, my festival experience was seeing Jay-Z. I’ve never seen a more commanding performance. To even experience a glimpse of that today was amazing.
As a fan, the festival felt like a reunion since a lot of us fans grew up together. We’ve seen each other graduate, get real adult jobs and chase our dreams.
Parrish Mitchels
Ari Lennox, Dreamville Artist
It feels legendary. It’s just so amazing to be black and I’m so happy to be a part of Cole’s black a** lineup. He’s just great and I’m proud of his black self and proud of Dreamville’s black self and the festival is just great for blackness. We’re just killing it. I feel great to be a part of this as a woman and I can represent for the natural ladies, so I feel lucky. The world needs to see that there are real fans of genuine real hip-hop and R&B and I was just so happy that there’s proof that there are 40,000 people here.
I think there’s gonna be more people next year once the word gets out about how lit this was. How chocolate it was. There are so many beautiful people here and if you’re looking for a man or a woman you can come here and change your life, get smashed and it would be a beautiful thing to indulge in.
Derick Okolie, Head of Strategy and Marketing For Dreamville
Honestly, if you’re one of the 40,000 people at this festival, this is the guy you should thank because Adam really put in the work. We had to meet with the mayor, city councilman, vendors, etc. When was the last time in North Carolina they let 40,000 hip-hop fans pull up for a festival? That doesn’t happen in many places. You’re not gonna be able to get a hip-hop rap crowd in one place and it be smooth. No fights, no nothing, that doesn’t happen.
Adam Rodney, Dreamville Creative Director
I would say it was just a thought, just an idea. There are all these things like working in music and working with creatives that you wanna get done and a festival, a place where we could bring all of our fans together, was always something we wanted to do here in North Carolina and bring it back to where it all started. We always wanted to have this homecoming moment.
I think there's gonna be more people next year once the word gets out about how lit this was. How chocolate it was.
Ari Lennox
Dreamville’s Economic Impact For Raleigh
Celestine Stamper, 55
Hometown: Raleigh-Durham, NC
Uber Driver
There were massive amounts of people walking, riding scooters, and being dropped off by Uber, Lyft and family members to the point where I couldn’t get close to the venue. I’m from here and I have NEVER seen such a wonderful successful production put on in the city of Raleigh before.
The festival did a number of things for the city: it dumped money into the economy, it put life back into Dorothea Dix Park, and most importantly it showed the city that more than 40,000 people can come together and fellowship and have a good time without incident.
Dreamville has been the talk here in the Triangle. It was on the news for days after it was over. My 75-year-old mother called me talking about Dreamville because she saw it on the news. In addition to the news, I heard on the radio that Dreamville is going down in the city of Raleigh’s history as the largest and successful festival in the history of the city. Dream on J. Cole, dream on.
Adam Rodney, Dreamville Creative Director
All the vendors are local whether it be the city or the county or the state. We have partnerships with the vendors in terms of merch, we have our own festival beer that’s brewed here. We worked with the brewery to create. We’re keeping it kind of home. It was important for the city.
Derick Okolie, Head of Strategy and Marketing For Dreamville
My favorite thing about Dreamville is you know, whether it be a Dreamville hoodie, a Fiends hoodie, or a J.I.D., Earthgang whatever it is, you’re putting on a flag and saying, “I’m part of the family,” and whether you’re an artist at Dreamville or you’re filming Dreamville, these kids know who you are and they’re like “Oh, Scott I love the work you did” or “Yo Shades, thank you so much, keep going.”
They treat me like I’m somebody and they love that we gave them this opportunity to meet other people and be part of something bigger than just themselves and that trickles down from the top. Cole set the tone at Dreamville and we fall in line because it feels good to see you wanna f**k with it. It feels good to see people you can look at say and say, “That’s my family.”
When you get those emails from ScoreMore and Dreamville asking what did you like and what you didn’t like, let us know. I have a notebook I’ve been walking around with thinking we have to do this better, we have to do that better. We need this kind of activation. We need that, this food was wack, make sure you have this next time. We’re gonna do it next year and the year after that and have bigger acts and better and people you wouldn’t expect. We got Davido to come out from Nigeria. That’s a beautiful thing. It could be J. Balvin, it could be Beyonce. The sky’s the limit. Just keep talking to us as fans and we’ll get it poppin’.