Founded 2007 Distributor(s) Interscope Records Country of origin United States | Status Active Genre Hip hop
R&B Founders J. Cole, Ibrahim Hamad | |
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Parent company Interscope Geffen A&M Records Profiles | ||
Dreamville Records is an American record label founded by recording artist and record producer J. Cole and Ibrahim Hamad, the label is distributed through Interscope Records. There are currently six artists signed to the label, including Ari Lennox, Bas, Cozz, Omen, Lute, J.I.D and Cole himself. Dreamville also houses producers Elite, Ron Gilmore, K-Quick and Cedric Brown.
History
During the composition of The Come Up, Cole started his own record label in early 2007 with current label president Ibrahim Hamad. Cole and Hamad met while attending St. John's University. Cole sought for an avenue to release his own music, while Hamad yearned to start a record label, prompting the two to team up to form Dreamville Records.
On January 28, 2014, at a show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Cole announced that his Dreamville imprint had signed a distribution deal with Interscope Records. Attendees at the show received a flyer announcing the deal and a mixtape, titled Revenge of the Dreamers. On the same day Cole announced the signing of Queens-based rapper, Bas. Cole spoke with Billboard about the Interscope deal saying: "We've been dreaming about a label situation for years." "The deal's been official since late December, and we'd been working on it for a while before that, but it felt too important to just go out and yell it right when it happened. It needed a more grand announcement." Cole explained that talks with Interscope began when Joie Manda, Interscope president of urban music, reached out to him in 2013, Cole said: "I thought he wanted me to produce someone over there and I was excited about that, but then he told me that he really believed in me as an executive, a label CEO and a producer. A Dr. Dre to his Jimmy Iovine. He had the vision."
On June 26, 2014, J. Cole officially announced the signing of Los Angeles-based rapper, Cozz. Rapper Omen has been affiliated with Dreamville since the beginning, Omen and Cole met on rapper Canibus chat forum at age 17, where they shared music. Omen was also featured on Cole's mixtapes, The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010). Omen didn't officially sign with the label until 2015. On December 8, 2015, Dreamville released a collaborative album titled, Revenge of the Dreamers II, officially announcing two new label signees, Charlotte rapper, Lute and Washington D.C singer Ari Lennox.
On February 20, 2017 Dreamville announced the signing of East Atlanta-based rapper J.I.D.