The second and final day of J. Cole’s Dreamville festival began with sunny weather and high anticipation for the night’s headliners, Cole and Drake. This year’s festival was the largest yet, with over 100,000 attendees who experienced an exciting evening characterized by surprise appearances from Lil Uzi Vert, Lil Wayne and 21 Savage.
Reuben Vincent kicked off the day, followed by artists including GloRilla, Ayra Starr and Waka Flocka Flame. At 5:45 p.m., J.I.D began his upbeat performance at the Rise stage with “NEVER,” and frequently hyped up the lively crowd.
J.I.D performed hits such as “Raydar,” “Crack Sandwich” and “Down Bad,” each complete with colorful, slow-moving graphics projected behind him. He mainly used a DJ to project instrumentals rather than live instruments, but another musician on stage closed out “Dance Now” for him with a live feature on a Keytar synthesizer.
Attendee Victoria Sullivan, who traveled from Boston for the festival, said she hoped to hear older songs from Cole’s discography on day two. Her favorite artist from the previous day was Sean Paul.
“I love throwbacks, so we got to dance and sing and have fun,” Sullivan said. “I just feel like everyone was vibing along.”
Summer Walker took the stage early in the evening with her song “Constant Bull—-,” returning to the stage for the first time after giving birth to twins in January.
Although Walker faced technical difficulties early in the set, she entertained the crowd by briefly freestyle rapping until the audio was restored. Walker played “Unloyal,” “Body” and a crowd-favorite, “Playing Games,” before she brought surprise guest 6LACK onstage.
6LACK performed his popular track “Pretty Little Fears” and his triple-platinum song “PRBLMS” before playing the song “preach” from his latest album, “Since I Have A Lover.”
After 6LACK performed, Walker transitioned to the second half of her set, punctuated by hits including “Girls Need Love” and “No Love.” Walker used her set as an opportunity to confirm the release of her upcoming EP, “Clear 2: Soft Life” on May 19.
Attendees sat on blankets — although one attendee stood out on an inflatable bean bag chair — to stake out a spot for Cole’s set well in advance. Cole began his set at the Shine stage with “Who Dat,” a track from his debut album, followed by a more recent hit, “MIDDLE CHILD.” At moments during “Power Trip,” Cole toned down the instrumentals, which highlighted the sound of the immense crowd resounding through Dorothea Dix.
During Cole’s set, he brought other members of the Dreamville label on stage. Lute and Cole played their song “Under the Sun,” and Cole noted his appreciation for the moment and said the group doesn’t often get the opportunity to perform together.
The group closed the set with their popular song, “Stick,” which J.I.D had also performed earlier that day. Although the crowd was clearly excited to hear “Stick,” the anticipation for Drake had reached its peak and the audience was ready for Cole to lead his label off stage to make room for Drizzy.
Before Drake took the stage, Cole ran through shortened versions of fan-favorites “Villematic,” “G.O.M.D,” “Wet Dreamz” and “Love Yourz.”
Drake began his set with “SICKO MODE” by Travis Scott behind a wall of heavy fog and white lights on stage. The Toronto native opted for a Dreamville and Gonzaga baseball jersey and black gloves. The crowd was giddy as Drake followed with “Over,” “Headlines,” “HYFR,” “Started from the Bottom” and “Energy.”
Drake said he hasn’t been to North Carolina in years and wanted to put on a memorable performance, which he certainly did — he brought out a variety of big industry names, most of whom were not advertised in the lineup.
First, Lil Uzi Vert shocked the crowd when he joined Drake onstage to perform “XO Tour Llif3” and “Just Wanna Rock,” featuring a few of Uzi’s signature dance moves.
After Uzi’s short performance, Drake reclaimed the stage by performing a considerable amount of tracks from his older albums, “Nothing Was the Same” and “Take Care.” Members of the crowd were thrilled when he played the highly requested song “Marvins Room,” followed by “Wu-Tang Forever.”
During “The Motto,” Drake surprised the crowd when he revealed the second special guest of the night, Lil Wayne, who joined him to perform the second verse and some select songs, including “Uproar.”
Drake’s final guest was 21 Savage — a predictable appearance given the success of their recent collaborative album, “Her Loss,” but the crowd was not disappointed and enthusiastically sang “Rich Flex” along with the duo.
Cole closed the festival by thanking all the performers and attendees for a great weekend and performed “No Role Modelz” as the final track of the festival. Colorful fireworks went off as the crowd took it in and began the difficult and slow search for an exit.
At the conclusion of the night, thousands of people flocked to the exits. Some attendees climbed on picnic tables inside the festival grounds and directed the crowd, while others attempted to bypass the sea of people by maneuvering out of the mass and trekking into the woods outside the park. At certain points, the crowd was packed in the road as far as the eye could see.
