“Wells Fargo” plots a bank heist “Sleep Deprived” and “PTSD” trace the trials each artist overcame on the path to fame. “1993” is a posse cut where Compton rapper and singer Buddy plays the antsy guy in the weed cipher who interrupts whenever someone gets so distracted they forget to pass the blunt. Dreamers favors creative concept songs like “Ladies, Ladies, Ladies,” a nod to Jay-Z’s “Girls, Girls, Girls” where J.I.D reminisces about old flames, then catches a ride to smoke with T.I., who celebrates the women who loved him through his pre-fame, pre-marriage trap days. They write sharply alone, but together, they push each other. soul singer Ari Lennox and producers like Cam O’bi, Childish Major, Omen, and Elite, who all excel at a brand of moody trap infused with samples and neo-soul warmth. The current roster includes Cozz, Queens rapper Bas, Atlanta’s J.I.D and EarthGang D.C. Since its inception, Dreamville has centered clever, considerate wordsmiths. Dreamers, an 18-track sampler of the results, balances their skills with cohesion that escapes many streaming-era hip-hop crew tapes of this nature (see Quality Control: Control the Streets Volume 1, Shady XV, Young Money: Rise of an Empire).ĭreamers III floats thanks to smart planning. Over a hundred creatives from inside and outside Dreamville’s orbit got golden tickets to the ten-day sessions, and they came out with over a hundred songs. The album came together in January as Cole called gifted rappers, singers, and producers to Atlanta for a rap camp of sorts. “Dreams alive, my wallet dead.” Dreamers doesn’t just illustrate the problem it’s also interested in solutions. “Copped some things, but I ain’t fed,” Cozz rhymes in verse one. Exposure’s never guaranteed there are scores of deserving artists who never get a turn in the spotlight.ĭreamville’s new collaborative album Revenge of the Dreamers III dramatizes working musicians’ uphill battle for attention in the brutal “LamboTruck,” where West Coast rappers Cozz and Reason team up to plot on Cole and Top Dawg Entertainment founder Anthony “Top” Griffith, the underlying suggestion being that sticking up their respective label bosses is easier money than waiting for the chance to release new music. It’s hard work standing out in a field where everyone desperately wants to be seen. His luck didn’t change that day, but by 2009, he would be named as the first signee for the Brooklyn rhymer’s fledgling Roc Nation outfit. As a platinum-selling artist who once camped outside of a New York studio for a chance to play beats for Jay-Z, Cole knows both sides of the struggle.
Cole, who cooked up the idea for the label as a mixtape rapper on the come-up alongside his friend and manager Ibrahim Hamad over a decade ago - a work in progress, full of raw talent on the path to refinement. Hip-hop imprint Dreamville Records is - like its co-founder and star player J. Two of his early mixtapes, The Warm Up and Friday Night Lights, had basketball-themed covers.The stars of Dreamville Records: J.I.D, Ari Lennox, and, of course, its boss J. John’s University but chose to focus on his education and music.
Cole played basketball at Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, North Carolina. The Patriots are scheduled to play their first BAL game this Sunday, May 16, against the Nigerian team Rivers Hoopers. Cole news, the rapper is reportedly signing with Patriots Basketball Club to play for the Rwandan side in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League. The following year, he shared the singles “The Climb Back,” “Lion King on Ice,” and “Snow on tha Bluff.” Cole and Dreamville released Revenge of The Dreamers III. To name a few, Cole has featured on Gang Starr’s “Family and Loyalty,” Ty Dolla $ign’s “Purple Emoji,” Young Thug’s “The London,” and 21 Savage’s “a lot,” which earned the rappers the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Rap Song. Cole has also delivered his own spate of guest verses. “I was like, ‘Word up-this is funny as hell.’ But the second or third time, I was like, ‘All right, it’s almost embarrassing now.’ Like, ‘All right, man, y’’ll gonna make me put a feature on the album just so this shit can stop.’” Davis for GQ, Cole commented on the meme-phrase: “I was loving it,” he said.
The last three-2014 Forest Hills Drive, 4 Your Eyez Only, and KOD-have famously gone “platinum with no features.” In a 2019 feature with Allison P. Cole’s studio LPs have been certified platinum by the RIAA.