Dreamville Fest 2025 Review: More Than J. Cole’s Festival

Dreamville Festival is special for multiple reasons. First, it’s a massive showcase put on by one of the biggest names in hip-hop and music overall, J. Cole. Many stars in the music world have ventured into the festival sector, only to either give it up after a few years or fail to deliver a production as sharply curated as Dreamville Festival. Secondly, the Dreamville Fest atmosphere is like no other, as the warmth of southern hospitality and the feel-good vibes of a cookout are combined with an excellently curated lineup of talent that not only includes musicians, but food, vendors, and activations among the industry’s best. Dreamville Festival became a beloved destination for the curated music experience not by accident, but through paying attention to details, fine-tuning toward perfection, and putting the fans first.

With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that you can hear a bit of exhaustion in J. Cole’s voice as he addressed the crowd to close his headlining set for the fifth and final Dreamville Fest. “I’ll just keep it 100 with y’all… that sh*t be a lot,” Cole said about the work that goes into putting on a festival with Dreamville. “It be a lot because we want to put on some amazing sh*t for y’all. We want to do it for Carolina, we love being able to offer that and bring amazing artists… but that sh*t be a lot.” One of rap’s great lyricists of today, who is teetering on the edge of retirement following the release of his upcoming The Fall Off album, showed us more than ever that his desire to disappear into the shadows isn’t a promotional tactic, but the result of an artist who, at worst, is fatigued from the spotlight and, at best, believes their creative journey is complete.

The most important part of J. Cole’s speech was his promise to not only make sure that Raleigh, North Carolina continues to have a music festival to look forward to every year, but that its future iterations still have the Dreamville Festival spirit at heart. The effect of J. Cole’s possible retirement may mean that his future outputs become as sporadic as his mentor and former labelhead Jay-Z, but it he won’t let it come at a cost to the community that pushed him to prosperity over 15 years. Truth is, Dreamville Festival has always been much more than J. Cole’s festival. For five festivals across seven years, it’s been a family reunion in a home that welcomes fans new and old to experience things the Dreamville way. Where good music, camaraderie between artists and fans alike, and the natural beauty of community take precedent over anything else.

The 2025 Dreamville Festival was much of the same. Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park was turned into a massive playground for the Dreamville experience, bookended by two stages. In between were a plethora of activations and experiences that made the weekend much more than a music festival. A ferris wheel carried fans to the clouds, giving them a sweet eagle’s eye view of the ground below. Nearby was the Hennessy Highline activation which cycled through various DJs, many including Mannie Fresh, to keep the energy pumping throughout the day with sets of southern trap music, dancehall & reggae, and much more. Food stands and food trucks were scattered throughout the festival, offering more options than one knew what to do with (check out our favorites). And of course, the music elevated the ambiance as an excellent curation of sounds put a spotlight on the past and present.

The women stole the show as performers throughout the weekend. Ari Lennox and Keyshia Cole dazzled as vocalists on day one as they both traversed through their catalogs with the ease and dominance of industry veterans. The same was the case on day two with Coco Jones, Akia, Tems, and Eryakh Badu as they certified the win for the women as the MVPs of this year’s Dreamville Festival. Let’s not forget GloRilla, who brought her catalog of hits to Raleigh for a set of bass-rattling Southern fun beginning with “Tomorrow 2,” just to let you know how many hits were in her back pocket.

The music vets also thrived at Dreamville Fest as Wale put on for the DMV with a setlist of his slick-talking rhymes and chart hits. Ludacris was another highlight as he put on a masterclass in showmanship with a seemingly infinite arsenal of hit records. Last, and certainly not least, Lil Wayne’s day one closing set with Hot Boys and Big Tymers was special as the collective group’s stage presence made for a special showcase of early 2000s Southern rap.

The fifth and final Dreamville Festival may not have made headlines like previous iterations, like Drake co-headlining in 2023 and J. Cole’s apology and retreat from battle in 2024, but that’s the point. It was never about being bigger than life, but the exact opposite. Dreamville Festival was a moment to step out of the spotlight and have an intimate moment or two with people you consider family. There’s no better representation of that than with J. Cole’s set design for his closing performance which recreated the apartment of his former landlord Mohammad, one of the first people to truly believe in Cole’s rap dreams. A move like this requires a decent amount of humility, but Cole has an abundance of it. Furthermore, Cole’s performance focused heavily on records from early in his career with the bulk coming from his mixtape days and early albums like Cole World: The Sideline Story, Born Sinner, and the beloved classic 2014 Forest Hills Drive. This year was for the day ones, and though the day twos and onward got their moment, Cole’s set at the 2025 Dreamville Fest was a thank you to those who saw the vision before his album days.

What Dreamville Fest turns into remains to be seen, but its past and legacy should never be forgotten. The house that Cole and his Dreamville counterparts built became a home that music lovers looked forward to returning to every year. There’s nothing like a good family reunion, and Dreamville Festival was that and so much more.