NEWS
J. Cole‘s Dreamville Festival has announced its 2023 return and has revealed what might be its best lineup yet.
Dreamville Festival will return to Raleigh, North Carolina’s Dorothea Dix Park on April 1 and 2. Cole had previously teased the lineup announcement by calling it “the hardest festival lineup ever” on Twitter.
And he didn’t seem to be joking, as Usher is set to headline the Saturday, which will include additional performances from Ari Lennox, Lil Durk, City Girls, Sean Paul, Jessie Reyez, EarthGang and others.
As for Sunday, J. Cole and Drake will close out the festival with a historical dual performance, while the likes of Burna Boy, GloRilla, J.I.D, Summer Walker, Bas and Waka Flocka Flame will also hit the stage.
Tickets are available on the official Dreamville Festival website. Check out the full lineup below:
This year’s Dreamville Festival marks just the third rendition of J. Cole’s musical event. The festival was supposed to kick off in 2018, but was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. Complications struck again in 2020 and 2021 when it was forced to take a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic..
Dreamville Festival came back in full force in 2022, though, with performances from Cole, Lil Baby, Kehlani, Moneybagg Yo, J.I.D, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Wale, T-Pain and others. Lil Wayne, Jeezy and T.I. also joined forces for a star-studded Gangsta Grillz set hosted by DJ Drama.
Drake and Cole’s relationship has been cordial for years now, despite the pair having only worked together twice on 2011’s “In the Morning,” off Cole’s debut LP Cole World: The Sideline Story, and 2013’s “Jodeci (Freestyle).”
Meanwhile, Cole might have Drake to thank for his professional basketball career. After Cole signed with Canadian Elite Basketball League’s Scarborough Shooting Stars last year, Complex reported that Nicholas “Niko” Carino, co-owner of OVO and part-owner of the Shooting Stars, was introduced to Cole at a birthday party hosted by the 6 God.
“You know, Dreamville and OVO are family,” Carino said. “Drake had a birthday party in L.A. last year. The conversation was, ‘I heard you have your team.’ It organically grew from there.”
10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced that he is leaving the band because the demands of touring have become too much for him.
The 75-year-old musician, who also spent time performing with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works, has chosen to walk away from the legendary rock group after more than five decades.
He shared: “After so many wonderful years with 10cc, I must admit that the rigours of touring are no longer manageable for me as I get older, and I feel it’s time to let go of the long hours in airports and endless travel on buses.
“I’m not planning to stop playing altogether. I will still perform but at a pace that feels right, working alongside old friends and a new group of fellow musicians called The Guilty Men.”
Frontman Graham Gouldman confessed that it will feel unusual to perform without his “longest-running musical associate.”
He explained: “When Paul and I first joined forces in 10cc, we never could have imagined that we’d still be at it after 30 years, let alone 52.
“Paul has been my longest musical partner and it will feel different to turn around and see another drummer, but I completely understand why he no longer wants to sit on a plane for 14 hours or wake up in a new hotel every day for weeks at a time.”
Ben Stone, who has previously played with Mike and The Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler, will be taking over on drums.
Paul, who had several runs with 10cc after joining in 1973, performed his final show with the I’m Not In Love band in Alexandria, Virginia this past September.
The group is set to continue their And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour in the UK next year.
