Dreamville… FINALLY!
posted by Keyona Smith | April 24, 2019 | In Arts and Culture, NewsOriginally set to roll out September 15, 2018, the long-awaited and highly anticipated Dreamville Festival by rapper and Fayetteville native J. Cole arrived at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh on April 6.
The festival cancellation after the wreckage of Hurricane Florence the first time around was a real bummer for fans, near and far, who had only dreamt of the rapper actually doing something this grand. For me, it was a bit more personal as my internship at the time had offered to send me on press privileges to report it, and now that was completely blown. Nonetheless, the new date had been announced and everything started back in motion.
It wasn’t until the release of festival lineup that everything became a reality for someone like me, who hadn’t purchased a ticket yet. In fact, my personal ticket hunt came down to being finalized the day of the festival.
Whether it was your first time seeing Cole or any other artists featured in the lineup in concert, fans knew that he’d deliver nothing short of amazing. Cole invited Ari Lennox, Rapsody, Nelly, 21 Savage, SZA, EarthGang, Saba, Bas, Big Sean, 6lack, Teyana Taylor, and more.
Honestly, what more in a lineup do you need to know that you are walking into a vibe?
Toni Williams, FSU graduate and Co-CEO of podcast Toni + Terrence, added that she went into the festival open-minded and without many expectations even for her very first festival experience.
“It’s J. Cole. It won’t be anything less than amazing!” said Williams. “There were so many people–different types of people turning up in their own ways–but the environment was so dope, and live music just does something to you.”
I remember at one point, Fayetteville natives questioned Cole and why he would put the festival in the nearby capitol, Raleigh rather than his hometown. But the festival was still in North Carolina, which was still home. Anyways, who wants to be the one who misses a shot at making history side-by-side your favorite artist because of an easy 55 mile drive?
Certainly not HBCU graduate Tychyna Booth.
“It’s certainly not the true Dreamville, but that’s the only place that can hold the capacity of 40,000 people right now,” said Booth. “Dreamville was everything and then some. The positive vibes were unmatchable even considering the loss of Nipsey Hussle. There was still so much positivity in the air.”
With forty-thousand people trudging through a muddy park from RISE stage to SHINE stage, the atmosphere was surely one for the books–great for a first test run, if you will. But history will repeat itself when it moves from Raleigh to the real Dreamville.
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