Dreamville Records originated from the partnership of Grammy-winning rapper and producer J. Cole with manager Ibrahim Hamad. Through this imprint the label has backed full projects by Cozz, Lute, JID, and Ari Lennox. Alongside those releases and J. Cole’s own chart-topping output, Dreamville has issued a sequence of compilations titled Revenge of the Dreamers, the first of which surfaced in 2014. After the platinum-certified and Grammy-nominated Revenge of the Dreamers III of 2019, the label delivered D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape in 2022 and the Creed III soundtrack the following year.
Although the company’s origins stretch back before J. Cole’s mainstream arrival via 2011’s Cole World: The Sideline Story, meaningful progress arrived only in 2013 once Cole and Hamad secured a distribution arrangement with Interscope. Revenge of the Dreamers appeared the next January. Fresh from his second consecutive number one album Born Sinner, J. Cole contributed to seven of the eleven tracks and was joined by Dreamville artists Omen and Bas along with further guests. A more compact sequel arrived late the following year, now incorporating Cozz, Lute, and Ari Lennox. That installment entered the Billboard 200 at number 24 while reaching the top five of Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Dreamville’s visibility climbed sharply in 2019. The label staged its first Dreamville Festival that April in Raleigh, North Carolina. Three months afterward came Revenge of the Dreamers III, an expanded collection spotlighting roster members together with Young Nudy, Saba, Vince Staples, Dreezy, Ty Dolla $ign, and additional outside contributors. The set opened at number one on the Billboard 200 in July 2019, received a Best Rap Album nomination at the 62nd Grammy Awards, and later earned platinum certification. Sessions for the project produced the track “Down Bad,” on which JID, Bas, J. Cole, Young Nudy, and EarthGang shared verses over a taut Pluss beat; the song itself earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance.
Dreamville next linked again with DJ Drama, who had hosted JID’s 2018 album DiCaprio 2, for D-Day: A Gangsta Grillz Mixtape. Issued in late March 2022, the mixtape preceded the second Dreamville Festival, now expanded to two days in Raleigh, and reached number 11 on the Billboard 200. In 2023 the label assembled the Creed III soundtrack, fronted by the single “Blood, Sweat, and Tears” featuring Bas, Black Sherif, and Kel-P.
