The headlines from J. Cole and his epic Dreamville Festival set will undoubtedly be centered around his Kendrick Lamar comments, but it was an epic performance even before that moment.
With 26 songs, and a host of guests on stage, Cole said he wanted tonight to be a celebration of the music and collaborators he’s had throughout his career. And he did that over and over.
The crowd immediately went wild when the stage lit up and Cole was silhouetted sitting on a car in front of a stage designed to look like elements of his home town of Fayetteville, including the signature Market House towering over him.
“I wanted tonight to be like a celebration.
Jeremih joined Cole on stage as his first special guest, performing “Planez” with him, from their 2015 collaboration. Cole asked him to stay on stage to perform another song, where he let Jeremih perform his hit “Oui.”
For his next guest, Cole said “I’ve never done this on my own stage,” before literally handing over his microphone to 6LACK to do “Pretty Little Fears” together. He then asked 6LACK to stay on stage and he did “Nonchalant” and “PRBLMS” on his own.
The parade of guest stars continued with Benny the Butcher, who came out to do “Johnny P’s Caddy” with Cole, before doing another track of his own.
Next up on the Cole inspiration tour was Lil Yachty, who did “The Secret Recipe” with him, and then did “Strike (Holster)” on his own.
A tribute to artists Cole loves wouldn’t be complete without his Dreamville Label squad. “Under the Sun” saw Cole lead in to Lute. Followed by “Down Bad,” with Bas, EarthGang, but no J.I.D.
Central Cee was the next surprise on stage, joining the Dreamville Label crew, so he could do “H.Y.B.” from Cole’s new project that just dropped Friday. Cole said he didn’t even know he was there, but had to do the song since he was. He then dropped a couple verses off of his own music.
Next up, Cole said he didn’t have the guests there, but since he was on the songs, he needed to do at least his verse from them. He then did part of “The London” from Young Thug, and “a lot” from 21 Savage.
Back to the guest stars, Lil Durk came to the stage to do Grammy-winning “All My Life.”
After Lil Durk left the stage, Cole got serious and talked back the response track he issued to Kendrick Lamar on Friday. Then he closed out with “Love Yourz,” and “No Role Modelz.”
