Dreamville Fest's inaugural launch wasn't without its fair share of hiccups in the penultimate phase of its deployment. Right as the festival was set to open its door, a prominent activist in Raleigh grabbed the nearest media outlet for the sake of deploring the organizers and the gentrifying mess they allegedly foisted on the local economy.
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Regardless of the fact, J. Cole and co. sought to look past those issues, in the hopes of addressing them in future iterations. At that moment, the Dreamville visionary was busy keeping his soldiers in check during an intensive 10-day training camp for the label's roster.
When it was time for J. Cole the stage himself, the NC-native had a couple of surprise elements saved up for the thousands in attendance. At one point, he paused to pay respect to Nipsey Hussle, causing the riotous crowd to go silent for a brief second, on orders direct from the messiah upstairs.
J Cole's other surprise came in the form of a "first time ever" concert duet with 21 Savage. Together they performed their sleeper hit "a lot" which you stream up above. After that, Meek Mill performed “You Know," and "Going Bad," with the added benefit of J. Cole hyping him up the whole way through. Let's just say, J. Cole took matters into his own hands, so as to ensure the long term viability of Dreamville Fest venture.