Album Review: Dreamville & J. Cole, Revenge of the Dreamers III

Earlier this year, it was revealed that multi-platinum rapper J. Cole had sent golden ticket invites to artists on his Dreamville label’s roster, as well as other hip-hop giants. The goal? Creating an epic compilation album over 10 days. 343 artists were summoned, and a grand total of 142 songs recorded.

We now have the finished product, trimmed to 18 tracks and featuring 35 performers and 27 producers, including the likes of Ski Mask The Slump God, T.I, Ty $olla Sign and Vince Staples, along with an uncredited Kendrick Lamar on soulful opener ‘Under the Sun’.

Revenge is what it sounds like on paper: great musicians at the top of their game free to experiment and have fun. It’s equal parts thrilling and hilarious. In terms of the former, ‘Down Bad’, ‘LamboTruck’ and ‘Rembrandt…Run It Back’ each feature furious rhymes from multiple performers, smashed together to delirious effect.

On the other hand, banger ‘Wells Fargo’ sees Dreamville rapper J.I.D and duo EarthGang adopting posh British accents, all the while delivering scary threats, while party anthem ‘1993’ is framed by up-and-coming hip-hop star Buddy, frustrated his collaborators are rapping instead of passing a blunt around.

Like many modern rap records, Revenge is simply too long, and rhymes about gang violence and women soon become repetitive. Yet, for much of its 64-minute running time, it stays fresh by switching between mainstream hip-hop (‘Don’t Hit Me Right Now’), trap rap (‘Sunset’) and R&B (‘Self Love’). All in all, it’s a compilation which puts the dream in Dreamville.