J. Cole headlined his Dreamville Festival in North Carolina on Saturday night and, during the performance, he made sure to pay tribute to recently slain Nipsey Hussle. He paused before playing “Love Yourz” to dedicate the song to the admired rapper and community activist.
“I gotta take time on stage and acknowledge someone who had a huge impact on the community, on the f*ckin world,” he said.
J. Cole asked the sold-out crowd of 40,000 to put up their phone lights in honor of Nipsey’s memory, then launched into an emotional rendition of “Love Yourz” while images and videos of Nispey played on the big screen behind him.
You can watch a clip of the song below. The full festival performance is available for streaming on Tidal.
https://twitter.com/cheyvillain/status/1114721553126551552
Nipsey you a legend. I respect and admire your career path and what you did for the neighborhood. My heart broke today when I saw the news. I’m praying for your loved ones. This was sposed to be the year we got one in. God had bigger plans for you 🙏🏿
— J. Cole (@JColeNC) April 1, 2019
The Dreamville Festival, which is the brainchild of J. Cole, was originally scheduled for September but had to be postponed due to Hurricane Florence. SZA, 21 Savage, Big Sean, 6lack, Nelly and a few others were also there to grace the stage alongside J. Cole.
“We’ve been trying to put this festival together for a few years now,” J. Cole said when he announced the festival last year. “It’s just hard to come into a city and get the whole city to approve it and [get] behind you. So it was great that we took our time… and really connected with the city [and] connected with the mayor. […] It’s going to be a variety of different acts that we love or excite us. It’s something we want to build for years and years to come.”
