R&B/Hip-Hop

With a new album due later this month — Why Not More? drops April 25 — Coco Jones has been hitting the promo circuit, and Dreamville is certainly included in that. The Grammy-winning Bel-Air star opened her set with “Caliber,” expertly setting the stage for a set stacked with tasteful choreography, audacious vocal choices and an unwavering commitment to the theatricality of ’90s R&B.

Knocking it out of the park with both ballads (“You,” “ICU”) and more comparatively uptempo fare (“Taste” and “Here We Go”), Coco’s Dreamville set was yet another example of how quickly she continues to evolve and mature as a vocalist and entertainer.

Music is in a beautiful place when a Nigerian R&B and Afrobeats singer can effortlessly headline a North Carolina hip-hop festival, and that’s exactly what Tems proved on Dreamville’s second night.

Featuring at least one song from each of her official projects, Tems’ setlist saved her biggest hits for last — but that doesn’t mean that’s where all her standout moments resided. Before she picked up the pace by blowing through hits like “Essence” and “Burning,” Tems evoked RiRi’s cavalier playfulness with her rendition of “Wickedest,” flexed her range by performing Brent Faiyaz’s parts on “Found” and flirted with high drama during “Turn Me Up.”

After performing “Love Me Jeje” — which she dedicated to her fans — Tems started to get a bit choked up, but she flipped that emotion back on the audience not too long after, moving several people in the crowd to tears with her performance of “Me & U.” Though she has several songs that live in the hip-hop space, it was cool to see Tems prioritize her own songs and style regardless of the setting.

Wale drew one of the biggest crowds on Sunday — and for good reason. Even outside of his hit-packed set list, which included cuts like “Bad,” “No Hands” and “On Chill,” Wale mounted one of the fest’s most charismatic and engaging sets.

In addition to grooving around onstage and slipping into some cute singing moments, he also ran down into the crowd and jumped on the barricade to get closer to fans, making sure to shove a DMV poster in the camera during the whole ordeal. Eventually, Wale had a serious singing moment with the live debut of his new “Blanco” single, which dropped last month (March 19). The Red Vision-produced single is Wale’s first musical release of the year, earning a prime spot in the middle of his setlist. Above all, Wale’s commitment to the live performance aspect of hip-hop — there was one completely a cappella moment where he rapped while his backup singer sang and his DJ beatboxed — was paramount to his stellar showing.

It’s been several months since the back-and-forth over whether or not Lil Wayne should be a Super Bowl halftime show headliner, and the rap legend hasn’t exactly been delivering a string of performances that prove he should — until the first night of Dreamville.

Joined by Hot Boys (Juvenile, Turk & B.G.) and Big Tymers (Mannie Fresh and Birdman), Lil Wayne anchored a set that honored the raucous energy of ’00s southern hip-hop. From unbeatable classics like “Back That Azz Up” and “Real Big,” the two NOLA groups captured the attention of several different generations, all bound together by the inimitable energy and verve of each MC — all of whom were more committed to rapping live than their younger peers. Juvenile was a particularly electrifying presence on stage; his energy served as the understood baseline for the entire set.

Though he did throw the ladies a bone (“Mrs. Officer”) and feed his pop proclivities (“Lollipop”), Wayne was chiefly concerned with digging a bit deeper into his sprawling catalog. Opening with “Mr. Carter,” Tunechi’s set ran the gamut of his career, including “I’m Goin In,” “Let the Beat Build,” “Uproar,” “Money on My Mind,” and “Best Rapper Alive.” Y2K energy ran the weekend, and Wayne brought it home with his Saturday closing set.

Fresh off the release of her new “Soft Girl Era” single, Ari Lennox rocked the Dreamville crowd as she rocked a fringy pink minidress and wavy blonde locks. Playing a smattering of cuts from her Shea Butter Baby and Age/Sex/Location albums — as well as cult favorite features like her turn on Jazmine Sullivan’s steamy “On It,” which she performed in front of a wet rose, no less — Lennox delivered one of the most consistent vocal showcases of the night. She also frequently wove in brief covers of pop and R&B classics to place her catalog in conversations with icons like Rihanna (“You da One”) and Beyoncé (“Rocket”).

Though the closing one-two punch of “BMO” and “Pressure” hit all the right notes, the Dreamville songbird’s autobiographical story of her old Cary, NC apartment made for one of the most priceless, full-circle moments of this year’s festival.

With her buzzy Billboard Women in Music Awards performance barely in the rearview mirror, Erykah Badu enchanted Dreamville with a masterful set celebrating her storied neo-soul contributions. Before Badu even graced the stage, the appearance of one of her background vocalists — Durand Bernarr — drew ample cheers from the crowd. Once Badu did appear, she immediately locked into character, refusing to break the fourth wall until several songs into her set — despite technical difficulties that botched the sound at the beginning. (Similar issues also plagued the beginning of J. Cole’s set.)

In addition to opening with “The Healer,” Badu played a combination of hits and deep cuts, saving “Window Seat” and “Tyrone” for the very end, ensuring maximum engagement from the scores of ladies in the seemingly endless crowd. Not only did Badu easily have the tightest and most impressive band out of every Dreamville performer, but she also delivered her own instrumentalist moment whenever she hopped on her MPC to transition to the next song.

Would he tease new music from The Fall Off — maybe debut the whole thing live? Would he make a surprise re-entry to the beef he exited last year (on this very stage, no less)? Would this really be the final Dreamville? Would he bring out Drake??

By the first song of his final Dreamville set, J. Cole answered “no” to each one of those questions, all of which had been circulating the festival grounds all weekend. He did mention The Fall Off, and Dreamville will be back soon in a new iteration, but Cole’s set was all bout honoring the day-ones who got him to this point. Beginning with 2007’s Roy Ayers-sampling “Rags to Riches (At the Beep),” Cole steadily worked his way through his entire discography, playing a handful of songs to honor each project.

From a poignant rendition of “Lost Ones” (from 2011’s Cole World: The Sideline Story) to crowd-assisted renditions of “Wet Dreamz” (from 2014’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive), “Deja Vu” (from 2016’s 4 You Eyez Only), and “Kevin’s Heart” (from 2018’s KOD), Cole’s set not only recounted the rise of one of the genre’s most towering talents, but also amplified the throughlines of love and relationship-minded storytelling that course through his catalog.

With a set inspired by his room in his former landlord’s apartment, Cole’s performance didn’t need flashy guests (he did bring out Badu for “Too Deep for the Intro”). He simply played his musical odyssey, giving fans one last opportunity to bask in the journey to Dreamville — from writing his first hit record (“Work Out”) to what’s on the horizon (he wrapped his latest single, “Clouds,” over “A Star is Born”). Closing with “Farewell” — the final song on his Friday Night Lights mixtape — Cole never lost sight of who was most important in the evolution of his career, and this was his final reminder under the official Dreamville banner.