Dreamville Records | |
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Founded | 2007 |
Founder | J. Cole Ibrahim "Ib" Hamad |
Distributor(s) |
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Genre | |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | |
Official website | dreamville |
Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by American rapper J. Cole and his manager Ibrahim Hamad. The label is currently distributed through Interscope Records, a unit of Universal Music Group. The roster includes Bas, Ari Lennox, Cozz, Omen, Lute, JID, EarthGang, and Cole himself. Dreamville also houses American record producers Elite, Ron Gilmore, and Cedric Brown. [1]
During the compositions of The Come Up , Cole started his own record label in early 2007 with current Sudanese-American label president Ibrahim Hamad. Cole and Hamad met while attending St. John's University. Cole sought for an avenue to release his own music, while Hamad yearned to start a record label, prompting the two to team up to form Dreamville Records. [2] Rapper Omen has been affiliated with Dreamville since the beginning, Omen and Cole met on rapper Canibus chat forum at age 17, where they shared music. [3] Omen was also featured on Cole's mixtapes, The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010). In 2011, Dreamville was associated with rapper Voli and alternative rock band StartYourOwnRebellion, while Dreamville was still in early formation as a vanity label imprint. [4] [5]
On January 28, 2014, at a show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Cole announced that his Dreamville imprint had signed a distribution deal with Interscope Records. Attendees at the show received a flyer announcing the deal and a mixtape, titled Revenge of the Dreamers . On the same day, Cole announced the signing of Queens-based rapper, Bas. Cole spoke with Billboard about the Interscope deal saying: "We've been dreaming about a label situation for years." "The deal's been official since late December, and we'd been working on it for a while before that, but it felt too important to just go out and yell it right when it happened. It needed a more grand announcement." Cole explained that talks with Interscope began when Joie Manda, Interscope president of urban music, reached out to him in 2013, Cole said: "I thought he wanted me to produce someone over there and I was excited about that, but then he told me that he really believed in me as an executive, a label CEO and a producer. A Dr. Dre to his Jimmy Iovine. He had the vision." [6]
On June 26, 2014, J. Cole officially announced the signing of Los Angeles-based rapper, Cozz. [7] Omen didn't officially sign the Interscope deal until after his debut album in 2015. [8] On December 8, 2015, Dreamville released a collaborative album titled, Revenge of the Dreamers II , officially announcing two new label signees, Charlotte rapper, Lute and Washington D.C. singer Ari Lennox. [9] In an interview with the Rap Radar Podcast, Ibrahim Hamad broke down the self-sufficiency of the artists on the label saying: "I like letting them figure out what their path is. I look at it like, because we learned what we learned from Cole being signed, what I like to do is [say] ‘what is your vision, and let us help you’. I don't ever want to tell an artist no you can't do that, that's not fair to them." [10]
On February 20, 2017 Dreamville announced the signing of East Atlanta-based rapper JID to the label. [11] On August 31, 2017 Dreamville also announced the signing of EarthGang, a hip hop duo consisting of Atlanta-based rappers Olu (Johnny Venus) and WowGr8 (Doctur Dot – born Eian Parker). Both EarthGang and JID had previously toured with Bas and Omen prior to signing to the label. [12] [13]
On January 6, 2019, Dreamville announced a 10-day recording session in Atlanta for the label's third compilation album Revenge of the Dreamers III , ending on January 16. [14] During the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dreamville held multiple events scheduled for the weekend, starting with an exclusive limited edition merchandise pop-up shop, a Dreamville brunch, and a private concert featuring the artists on the label taking place after the All Star game. [15] [16] On July 5, the label's third compilation album was released to critical acclaim and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 115,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. [17] The album earned nominations for Best Rap Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards, while "Middle Child" and "Down Bad" were nominated for Best Rap Performance. [18] In April 2020, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. [19]
On March 31, 2022, Dreamville released D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape featuring guest appearances from 2 Chainz, ASAP Ferg, Young Nudy, Kenny Mason, Sheck Wes, G Perico, and Reason. [20] The mixtape was released ahead of the second annual Dreamville Festival. [21] In 2023, It was confirmed that Dreamville will be the primary artists to the soundtrack album to the sports drama film Creed III .
Act | Year signed | Releases under the label |
---|---|---|
J. Cole | 2007 (founder) | 9 |
Omen | 2009 | 1 |
Bas | 2013 | 8 |
Cozz | 2014 | 4 |
Lute | 2015 | 2 |
Ari Lennox | 2015 | 5 |
JID | 2017 | 4 |
EarthGang | 2017 | 3 |
In October 2011, Cole established The Dreamville Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization "created to 'bridge the gap' between the world of opportunity and the urban youth" of Cole's hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The foundation conducts philanthropic activities with the aid of volunteers, such as providing school supplies to students. [30] The Foundation also launched a book club for young men and sponsored "The Nobody's Perfect Writing Contest and Mother's Day Brunch". It sponsors an annual weekend of Fayetteville community events called the "Dreamville Weekend" that features a discussion with the Young Men's Book Club, an appreciation dinner, and a career day panel with African-American professionals in a variety of fields. [31]
In 2014, Cole purchased his childhood home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for $120,000 through the Dreamville Foundation. The home had been repossessed from his mother years earlier while Cole was attending college in New York. His plan is to turn the house into a homestead for single mothers and their children, where they will be able to live rent-free. [32] In 2017 NFL player Colin Kaepernick donated $32,000 to fund multiple projects for the organization. [33]
In September 2018, the Dreamville Foundation unveiled a new initiative to aid victims of Hurricane Florence in Fayetteville, NC. According to the foundation's website, donated funds will go toward "hot food stations placed throughout the city, temporary housing options for families, and stocking of food pantries/shelters", as well as local charities that provide services to Fayetteville residents. [34]
On April 27, 2018, J. Cole announced the Dreamville Festival, the festival featuring local music, culture, food and art, and also include a mix of up-and-comers and national acts. It is expected to be an annual festival. [35] However, in the wake of Hurricane Florence, the event was postponed from its original date. The festival was rescheduled and held at the historic Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, North Carolina on April 6, 2019. The lineup included all of Dreamville's artists as well as SZA, Big Sean, Nelly, 21 Savage, 6LACK, Davido, Teyana Taylor, Saba, Rapsody, and Mez. [36] The Dreamville Festival plan to donate proceeds to the Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy and the Dreamville Foundation. [37] The festival sold out with a capacity of 40,000 people to become the largest event in Raleigh. Ibrahim Hamad remarked on the festival saying "We're not like other companies that are based in a city. Our label is very much an idea, more so than an actual physical place. So you can create it and take it everywhere. To bring that into the festival—where you can just create a place and make it Dreamville and be able to bring people there—was always this cool goal. And that's what makes it unique. It's not based in an actual city. It's just based in our minds." [38]
For the 2020 season, the Dreamville Festival is front-of-jersey sponsor for USL Championship soccer team North Carolina FC. [39] The second annual festival was initially slated for April 4, 2020 however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed and eventually cancelled. The festival went on at Dix Park as scheduled in 2022, with the dates of April 2–3, its first year being held for two days. The lineup was announced on March 2, a month prior to its commencement, and again included all Dreamville artists, as well as Fivio Foreign, Kehlani, Lil Baby, and Wizkid (Day 1), and Lil Wayne with Jeezy and T.I. as part of DJ Drama's "Gangsta Grillz", Moneybagg Yo, and T-Pain (Day 2). The attendance across the two days totaled 80,000, making it one of the most attended music events in North Carolina history. In addition, the event created an economic impact of $6.7M. [40]
The event returned to Dix Park from April 1-2, 2023 and featured all Dreamville artists, as well as special guests Usher, Drake, Burna Boy, Sean Paul, and more. A concert representative reported that the event was sold out with an estimated attendance of 100,000. [41] [42]
On October 12, 2020, Dreamville announced the formation of Dreamville Ventures, a multi-disciplinary media company. Damien Scott is leading the division as president with Candace Rodney as executive vice president, overseeing daily operations including verticals across music, TV and film, publishing, apparel and live events. In a press release with Variety , Cole said: "Dreamville has always been a mom-and-pop operation with grand ambitions and ideas that extend far beyond music. The hiring of Damien and Candace not only expands our family business with two of the smartest and most capable executives in the industry, but allows us to take a massive leap towards turning those big ideas into reality." [43]
On October 12, 2020, Dreamville Studios was launched, a content studio that will produce original and co-produced content, with Candace Rodney who serves as president of Dreamville Studios. Ibrahim Hamad said in a press release: "Dreamville is a brand we built from the ground up and the appointments of Damien and Candace allows us to take the company to levels we’ve always dreamed of while keeping our core values and beliefs at the forefront of our expansion." [44] Candace Rodney previously worked as senior vice president of development at Wilmore Films, as well as positions at Sony Pictures Television, Lionsgate Television and Creative Artists Agency. [43]
Dreamville Films, Inc is an American entertainment company founded in 2015 that produces and distributes films. In 2015, they established a distribution deal HBO. [45] They released documentaries J. Cole: Road to Homecoming , Forest Hills Drive: Homecoming , and J. Cole: 4 Your Eyez Only in partnership with HBO.
Artist | Album | Details | Peak chart positions | Certification | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B/HH | US Rap | ||||
J. Cole | Born Sinner |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Bas | Last Winter |
| 103 | 18 | 13 | |
Cozz | Cozz & Effect |
| 160 | 31 | 17 | |
J. Cole | 2014 Forest Hills Drive |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
Omen | Elephant Eyes |
| – | – | – | |
Bas | Too High to Riot |
| 49 | 7 | 6 | |
J. Cole | 4 Your Eyez Only |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
JID | The Never Story |
| 197 | – | – | |
Lute | West1996 pt. 2 |
| – | – | – | |
Cozz | Effected |
| – | – | – | |
J. Cole | KOD |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
Bas | Milky Way |
| 35 | 19 | 17 | |
JID | DiCaprio 2 |
| 41 | 21 | 17 | |
Ari Lennox | Shea Butter Baby |
| 67 | 38 | – | RIAA: Gold |
EarthGang | Mirrorland |
| 40 | 22 | 20 | |
Spillage Village (with JID & EarthGang) | Spilligion |
| 141 | – | – | |
J. Cole | The Off-Season |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Lute | Gold Mouf |
| – | – | – | |
EarthGang | Ghetto Gods |
| 114 | – | – | |
JID | The Forever Story |
| 12 | 8 | 6 | |
Ari Lennox | Age/Sex/Location |
| 69 | 36 | – | |
Bas | We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up |
| – | – | – |
Artist | Album | Details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|---|
US | |||
J. Cole | Forest Hills Drive: Live |
| 71 |
Artist | Album | Details | Peak chart positions | Certification | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B/HH | US Rap | ||||
Dreamville | Revenge of the Dreamers |
| – | – | – | |
Dreamville | Revenge of the Dreamers II |
| 29 | 4 | 3 | |
Dreamville | Revenge of the Dreamers III |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
|
Dreamville | D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape |
| 11 | 6 | 4 |
Artist | Album | Details | Peak chart positions | Certification | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B/HH | US Rap | ||||
Dreamville | Creed III: The Soundtrack |
| 127 | – | – |
Artist | Extended play | Details |
---|---|---|
J. Cole | Truly Yours |
|
J. Cole | Truly Yours 2 |
|
Bas | Two Weeks Notice |
|
Ari Lennox | Pho |
|
Dreamville | 1-888-88-DREAM |
|
Dreamville | ROTD3.COM |
|
Bas | Spilled Milk 1 |
|
Ari Lennox | Shea Butter Baby (Remix EP) |
|
J. Cole | Lewis Street |
|
Cozz | Fortunate |
|
Bas | [BUMP] Pick Me Up |
|
Ari Lennox | Away Message |
|
EarthGang | EarthGang Vs The Algorithm: RIP Human Art | Released: September 22, 2023 |
Artist | Mixtape | Details |
---|---|---|
J. Cole | The Warm Up |
|
J. Cole | Friday Night Lights |
|
Bas | Quarter Water Raised Me Vol. 2 |
|
Cozz | Nothin Personal |
|
J. Cole | Might Delete Later |
|
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B/HH | US Rap | CAN | NZ Hot | ||||
"Down Bad" [85] (with J. Cole, JID, Bas & EarthGang featuring Young Nudy) | 2019 | 64 | 26 | 22 | 69 | 10 |
| Revenge of the Dreamers III |
"Got Me" [87] (with Ari Lennox & Omen featuring Ty Dolla Sign & Dreezy) | — | — [A] | — | — | — |
| ||
"LamboTruck" (with Cozz featuring Reason & Childish Major) | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Costa Rica" (with Bas & JID featuring Guapdad 4000, Reese LAFLARE, Jace, Mez, Smokepurpp, Buddy & Ski Mask the Slump God) | 75 | 30 | — | 71 | — |
| ||
"Under the Sun" (with J. Cole & Lute featuring DaBaby) | 44 | 18 | 16 | 72 | — |
| ||
"Bussit" [90] (with Ari Lennox) | 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | Revenge of the Dreamers III: Director's Cut | |
"Still Up" [90] (with EarthGang featuring Reason) | — | — | — | — | — |
Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010) to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following.
Abbas Hamad, known professionally as Bas, is a French-born Sudanese-American rapper. He signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records to release his debut studio album, Last Winter (2014). It was met with positive critical reception and entered the Billboard 200, along with his second and third albums, Too High to Riot (2016) and Milky Way (2018). His fourth album, We Only Talk About Real Shit When We're Fucked Up (2023) was met with continued praise despite failing to chart.
Cody Rashad Osagie, better known by his stage name Cozz, is an American rapper. He is signed to J. Cole's label Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. His debut studio album Cozz & Effect, was released in October 2014. He has since released other projects, such as his 2016 project Nothin' Personal and in 2018 he released Effected his second Studio Album. He also released his Fortunate EP in 2021.
Damon Coleman, better known by his stage name Omen, is an American rapper and record producer from Chicago, Illinois. He is signed to J. Cole's Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. His debut studio album Elephant Eyes, was released on July 21, 2015.
EarthGang is an American hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia, composed of Olu and WowGr8. They are co-founders of the musical collective Spillage Village, with JID, Hollywood JB, JordxnBryant, 6lack, Mereba, and Benji.
Too High to Riot is the second studio album by Sudanese rapper Bas. It was released on March 4, 2016, by Dreamville Records and Interscope Records. The album sold 8,065 copies in its first week, debuting at number 49 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Courtney Shanade Salter, known professionally as Ari Lennox, is an American R&B singer-songwriter from Washington, D.C. She signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records as the former label's first female artist in 2015. She started gaining recognition after the release of her second extended play (EP) and major label debut, Pho (2016). That same year, she made an uncredited guest appearance on Cole's song "Change". Her debut studio album, Shea Butter Baby (2019), was met with critical praise and lukewarm commercial response.
Luther Nicholson, better known by his stage name Lute, is an American rapper. He is signed to J. Cole's Dreamville Records. He released his first mixtape, West1996, in 2012, his debut album, West1996 pt. 2, in 2017, and his second album Gold Mouf in 2021.
Revenge of the Dreamers II is the second compilation album by American record label Dreamville Records and was released on December 8, 2015. The album includes contributions by Dreamville artists, J. Cole, Bas, Cozz, Omen, Lute, and Ari Lennox. Producers on this album include, J. Cole, Cedric Brown, K-Quick, Soundwave, Meez, Elite, Ron Gilmore Jr., DJ Grumble, and J Dilla.
Nothin Personal is the debut mixtape by American rapper Cozz and was released on January 4, 2016 by Dreamville Records and Tha Committee Records.
Revenge of the Dreamers is the first compilation album by American record label Dreamville Records and was released on January 28, 2014. The album includes contributions by Dreamville artists, J. Cole, Bas, Omen, K-Quick as well as Treasure Davis. Producers on this album include, J. Cole, Omen, Ron Gilmore, Cedric Brown, K-Quick, and Jay Kurzweil. The project is the first in the series and spawned two sequels: Revenge of the Dreamers II (2015) and Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019).
Destin Choice Route, better known by his stage name JID, is an American rapper, and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Atlanta, he signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2017. He formed the musical collective Spillage Village with EarthGang in 2010, and later formed the hip hop group Zoink Gang with Smino, Buddy, and Guapdad 4000. His fluent rapping style and usage of wordplay has been highly acclaimed by several music critics.
4 Your Eyez Only World Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist J. Cole, to support his fourth studio album 4 Your Eyez Only (2016). Dreamville artists J.I.D, Ari Lennox and Lute served as opening acts on the first leg of the tour. Rappers Anderson .Paak and Bas served as opening acts on the second leg of the tour, along with J.I.D and Ari Lennox. Dreamville artists J.I.D., Ari Lennox and EarthGang served as opening acts on the European leg of the tour.
Robert Lee Gill Jr., better known by his stage name Reason, is an American rapper and songwriter. He was formerly signed to hip hop record label Top Dawg Entertainment, where he started to gain recognition. His TDE debut, There You Have It, was released on September 28, 2018, a re-release of an album from 2017. His major label debut album New Beginnings was released on October 9, 2020.
Revenge of the Dreamers III is the third compilation album by American record label Dreamville, released on July 5, 2019, by Dreamville and Interscope Records.
Spillage Village is an American musical collective from Atlanta, Georgia. The group is composed of rappers, singers and producers, and was founded by the members of EarthGang. Spillage Village was primarily made up of five initial members with a split-base in both Atlanta and Baltimore.
American singer Ari Lennox has released two studio albums, four extended plays (EPs), one mixtape, and 11 singles. She released her debut studio album titled Shea Butter Baby in May 2019. Then she released her sophomore album Age/Sex/Location in September 2022. Both studio albums were produced through Dreamville Records and Interscope Records.
"Down Bad" is a song by American record label Dreamville featuring performances by American rappers J. Cole, JID, Bas, Johnny Venus of EarthGang, and Young Nudy, released on June 12, 2019 alongside "Got Me" as the dual second single from the label's 2019 compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers III.
"Got Me" is a song released by American record label Dreamville, performed by American musicians Ari Lennox and Omen featuring fellow American musicians Ty Dolla $ign and Dreezy. It was released on June 12, 2019 alongside "Down Bad" as the second singles from the label's third compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019).
D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape is the fourth compilation album by American record label Dreamville. It was released on March 31, 2022, by Dreamville and Interscope as a Gangsta Grillz mixtape hosted by DJ Drama.
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