Over 50,000 people attended what is said to be the fifth and final Dreamville Fest in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday and Sunday. Under the blaring sun and heat at a sold-out Dorothea Dix Park, fans enjoyed pop-ups, took photo opportunities, ate from different food and drink vendors, and vibed to a lineup of artists at the two-day music festival curated by J. Cole and his team.
Artists who performed on the Rise and Shine stages included Erykah Badu, Tems, Glorilla, Wale, 21 Savage, Keyshia Cole, Coco Jones, PartyNextDoor, and a host of others. Lil Wayne headlined on Saturday, along with the Hot Boys and Big Tymers.
Amid the enjoyment was the knowledge that what had become an anticipated event for Raleigh and North Carolina, J. Cole’s home state, was ending. But during his set on the final day of the festival. J.Cole cleared up the “fifth and final” description that has been used since tickets went on sale and made a promise to the thousands that had come to love the festival since 2019.
“Our plan is this festival will still exist,” the Grammy award-winning rapper revealed. “It might not have a Dreamville Festival name on it, but we will be back with this feeling when y’all out here. I don’t know if y’all feel it, but to me, this sh*t feel like a cookout, a family reunion.”
While a festival of the sorts will still be hosted in Raleigh under the direction of the city, the time of Dreamville Fest under J.Cole’s label seems to have come to an end, with a hint that Sunday’s performance would be his last at Dorothea Dix Park. With a stage design that resembled the home of his former landlord, Mohammad, who allowed him to live rent-free while he pursued his music career, J.Cole took fans through his successful journey.
From recording in his bedroom trying to make it into the music industry to being signed to Jay-Z, opening for Wale on tour, achieving his first commercial hit with “Work Out,” and reaching soaring success to starting a family, J.Cole performed for his Day 1 and his “Day 2, 3, 4, 5” fans.
“As you can see, we’re on a whole journey,” he said. He performed songs such as “Lights Please,” “No Role Modelz,” “Lost Ones,” “Can’t Get Enough,” “Kevin’s Heart,” and brought out Erykah Badu to perform their song “Too Deep for the Intro,” for the first time. The hour-and-thirty-minute concert came after a “one-night-only” event at Madison Square Garden in December to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his third studio album “2014 Forest Hills Drive.”
As a mass of fans shuffled out of the park, a fireworks display lit up the sky, and J.Cole performed “Farewell” after thanking his fans, the artists, and the team behind the scenes who made Dreamville Fest happen.