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#12: Dreamville Fest in Review

#12: Dreamville Fest in Review

Adam Dash
April 14, 2025

Good morning! Welcome back to another edition of the SoundCentric newsletter!

I’ll be honest with you—I’ve had an amazing month of concerts. A few weeks ago, I saw Smino in a small venue at UPenn. Last night, I caught Saba at the legendary Blue Note with a full band performing his new album. And last week, I made the trek down to Raleigh, North Carolina to catch the last Dreamville Fest ever. So, let’s break it down.

You could be reading anything in the world right now, and you're here with me. So, I appreciate it.

Let’s get to it!

Deep Dive

I made the seven-hour drive down to Raleigh, North Carolina the other week, all bright-eyed and ready to take on the world. After a little forced coercion back in December, I’d convinced my college friend Jake to make the journey with me to the final Dreamville Fest ever—gasp!

Going into it, I thought the lineup was pretty solid. Obviously, you had all the classic Dreamville characters. I was a little wary of Lil Wayne’s performance ability after seeing plenty of underwhelming live videos, but hey—it’s Wayne, so I let it slide. Newcomers like BigXThaPlug and Young Nudy mixed with legends like Chief Keef and Ludacris had me genuinely hyped for what the festival had to offer.

But enough intro—let’s get into it and hand out some awards.

MVP

Jermaine? Cole? Let’s be real—it was always Cole. The only downside to his entire set was his mic not working during the first song, which kind of killed the opening vibe. He ended up redoing it once he realized no one heard him, and still put on a crazy set, but yeah… weird way to start. Like, c’mon Dreamville Fest—this is your Super Bowl. Figure out the mics. He did the hits, he did the deep cuts, he gave multiple sermons. It was everything you could ever want from a Cole set

MVPNJC (MVP Not J. Cole)

Ludacris. I felt like he was the talk of the whole festival. That man is a born entertainer, through and through. You could immediately tell how many worlds ahead he was compared to the other rappers. Every word was rapped, the crowd was fully involved, and he actually made use of the giant screens behind him to keep the energy up. Even the songs I didn’t know—I was reciting the chorus by the last go-around. I left that set thoroughly impressed.

LVP (Least Valuable Performer)

I’m sorry to do this, Jake (he’s a huge PARTYNEXTDOOR fan), but it was Party. I was excited for the set and expected some vibey singing. Instead, I got a whole lot of aura farming. The dude went multiple songs without saying a single word—just stared at the crowd menacingly. I don’t think he acknowledged the fact that he was at a festival, or that there were actual people in the audience, even once. It was just… bad.

Most Vibey Set

Ladies and gentlemen, this is kind of a cop-out—but we’ve got a 3-way tie.

Take a bow: Tems, Ari Lennox, and Bas.

Bas and Ari were locks for me—I know their catalogs, and I’ve seen Bas live before, so I knew his band was gonna be tight. But Tems? That is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I didn’t even know most of the songs, and I was still straight vibing. Just an all-around amazing performance. And Miss Lennox—the first lady of Dreamville? Crushed it.

Most Hype Set

This one’s gotta go to J.I.D. The crowd was begging for “Stick” from the very first song. It was wild seeing everyone go bar for bar with him—especially since the man raps in straight-up tongue twisters.

I saw J.I.D open for 21 Savage last summer, and he felt a little reserved, maybe even a bit out of his element. But at Dreamville Fest? He looked completely at home. Had the crowd in the palm of his hand. And “Stick”? Insane.

Sixth Man of the Festival

I’m not completely positive what I mean by this award title, but let’s give it to EarthGang. Another set where the artists actually know to interact with the crowd and have fun. They are known for the energy they bring on stage, and that they did.

Biggest Snooze

21, can you do something for me? No, I mean that literally. Can you do anything please. I’ve seen 21 now like three times, and each set is the same. Not much energy. Minimal fan engagement. But, to be completely fair, he has bangers. Boy do I love Her Loss.

Final Verdict

That was such an amazing festival. It was setup really well. You could see every artist perform if you wanted. No need to skip one to make the other. Pretty solid food. Fun different popups in between the set. Great vibes. No real pushing in the crowd. Weather was basically perfect. All in all, an amazing trip down to NC!