J. Cole's Dreamville Festival Bashed By Raleigh Activist

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J. Cole watches the action during the NBA All-Star game as part of the 2019 NBA All-Star Weekend at Spectrum Center on February 17, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Joshua Bishop isn't down for Dreamville Festival.

J. Cole's inaugural Dreamville fest is set to go down today. The festival was initially supposed to take place in September of 2018 but due to Hurricane Florence, Cole and the Dreamville camp postponed it by several months. As artists like Cole, Big Sean, Nelly, 21 Savage, and more are set to take the stage, a local Raleigh activist is explaining why he's not down for it.

Joshua Bishop spoke to ABC11 about Dreamville Fest which is set to take place at Dorothea Dix Park. Bishop is a chairman and activist for Justice Served, NC. He explained that he won't be supporting the festival, and suggested that locals from the area don't pull up either. 

"No, I won't go to Dreamville and I don't suggest my people go to Dreamville," Bishop said.

Bishop explained that the tickets for the festival are expensive and out of an accessible range for the city's marginalized residents. Additionally, he said that the area where the festival takes place is a symbol of gentrification that's pushing low-income residents out of their own neighborhoods.

"Southeast Raleigh matters. So don't make it look like Southeast Raleigh is just Dorothea Dix Park," Bishop said "If you're going to do a festival in Raleigh, and J Cole should know the struggle because he's from Fayetteville, so I feel like if you do do a performance in Dorothea Dix Park, some of the funds should come back to Southeast Raleigh." 

Following Hurricane Florence, J. Cole and Dreamville donated some of the profits from ticket sales towards hurricane-relief efforts and the Dix Park Conservancy.


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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