Dreamville Merch
2014–2016: Revenge of the Dreamers II
On June 26, 2014, J. Cole officially announced the signing of Los Angeles-based rapper, Cozz. Omen didn’t officially sign the Interscope deal until after his debut album in 2015. On December 8, 2015, Dreamville released a collaborative album titled, Revenge of the Dreamers II, officially announcing two new label signees, Charlotte rapper, Lute and Washington D.C. singer Ari Lennox.
In an interview with the Rap Radar Podcast, Ibrahim Hamad broke down the self-sufficiency of the artists on the label saying: “I like letting them figure out what their path is. I look at it like, because we learned what we learned from Cole being signed, what I like to do is [say] ‘what is your vision, and let us help you’. I don’t ever want to tell an artist no you can’t do that, that’s not fair to them.”
2017–2020: Revenge of the Dreamers III
On February 20, 2017 Dreamville announced the signing of East Atlanta-based rapper JID to the label.[11] On August 31, 2017 Dreamville also announced the signing of EarthGang, a hip hop duo consisting of Atlanta-based rappers Olu (Johnny Venus) and WowGr8 (Doctur Dot – born Eian Parker). Both EarthGang and JID had previously toured with Bas and Omen prior to signing to the label.
On January 6, 2019, Dreamville announced a 10-day recording session in Atlanta for the label’s third compilation album Revenge of the Dreamers III, ending on January 16. During the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina, Dreamville held multiple events scheduled for the weekend, starting with an exclusive limited edition merchandise pop-up shop, a Dreamville brunch, and a private concert featuring the artists on the label taking place after the All Star game. On July 5, the label’s third compilation album was released to critical acclaim and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 115,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. The album earned nominations for Best Rap Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards, while “Middle Child” and “Down Bad” were nominated for Best Rap Performance. In April 2020, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.