1. Why is the music label called Dreamville Records?
According to forbes.com: How Dreamville Records is Altering The Major Label Business Model by Ogden Payne, it states that, "For Cole and his team of college friends-turned-business partners, Dreamville Records (a name borrowed from their dwellings at St. John's University in the 'City of Dreams' paired with Cole's hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina) represents an imprint determined to modify the traditional business plans and marketing strategies of it's major label partners ".
From my point of view, there are important points to consider. The fact that the label consists of college friends who are business partners probably shows that they fulfilled their dreams of having their own record label e.g Ibrahim Hamad who yearned to start a record label.
Moreover,the words "City of Dreams" could probably mean that the label is all about fulfilling everyone's dreams. For example, artists are probably allowed to make music the way they want it to be. Therefore this is probably why the label is determined to modify the traditional business plans. It means that they are different from other music labels.
There is another point that shows that Dreamville Records is all about fulfilling everyone's dreams. Ogen Payne states that, " 'I feel like Cole's voice is stronger now than ever' , said Ibrahim Hamad, Cole's manager and Dreamville Records president. 'To me he has the strongest voice in hip-hop. We have a brand that is really realistic and understands people...If there were zero dollars available for Dreamville, we would still have artists doing what they do because they believe in their dreams and what they want to say ' ".
This proves that Dreamville Records is all about quality not quantity.
2. Dreamville Records and Interscope Records
Ogen Payne states that, "In January 2014, Cole announced that Dreamville inked a distribution deal with Interscope Records". As stated by Ogen Payne, Cole said, "We provide the artist, the direction, the guidance, the music, the new ideas, and they [Interscope] provide muscle and years of experiences of really giving artists the proper push "... .
From the information above, this explains why Dreamville Records partnered up with Interscope Records. It's probably because they have more experience in terms of shaping artists to be the best they can be. However, this would not have been possible if Dreamville Records didn't guide the artists in the first place especially their music.
There is a reason why Dreamville Records partnered up with Interscope Records. Wikipedia gives an interesting point. Wikipedia states that, "....it differed from most record companies by letting A&R staff control decisions and allowing artists and producers full creative control".
From my point of view, the fact that artists and producers have full creative control is one of the reasons why Dreamville Records partnered with Interscope Records. They wanted to create their own music the way they wanted it to be.
3. Cole did not put pressure on artists to chase radio singles
Ogen Payne states that, " 'When we signed the deal we walked into the Interscope boardroom with Cole, and he laid out the plan for them' ,said Bas, the first artist signed to Dreamville. 'Cole said, 'Look, I'm not putting any pressure on my artists to chase radio singles. It'll take longer for them to break, but they'll have long, sustainable careers' ".
This proves that Dreamville is all about supporting artists hence quality over quantity.
4. Revenge of the Dreamers mixtape was used to announce Dreamville Partnership with Interscope Records
According to hiphopdx.com: J. Cole Announces Dreamville Partnership With Interscope Records by Andres Tardio |Jan 29, 2014, it states that, "Joie Manda, Interscope's president of urban music discussed the deal in a statement, as per Complex.
'Dreamville celebrates the sort of grass roots, out-of-the-box approach to connecting artists to their fans that can help move the music industry into the future', Manda said. 'We are very pleased to welcome Dreamville into the Interscope family' .
To celebrate the announcement, Cole has also released his Revenge of the Dreamers mixtape".
Therefore, Revenge of the Dreamers clearly was released to celebrate their partnership with Interscope Records and to announce the formation of the music label, Dreamville Records.
Dreamville Records was formed on the year 2007. It was formed because J. Cole wanted to release his own music while Sudanese-American manager Ibrahim Hamad yearned to start a record label.
So far the label has signed J. Cole, Omen, Bas, Cozz, Lute, Ari Lennox, J.I.D and EARTHGANG.
**If you're interested, you can read my article, "Chronicles of Revenge of the Dreamers I, II and III" for more information about the Revenge of the Dreamers mixtape**.
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