J Cole KOD

J Cole announces his own Dreamville Festival; new album 'KOD' out now

As more and more artists are doing, J. Cole is throwing his own music festival. The Washington Post reports that his label Dreamville Records and ScoreMore Shows are partnering for the fest, which is called Dreamville Festival, and it’ll happen in Cole’s home state of North Carolina on September 15 in Raleigh’s Dorothea Dix Park.

Lineup is still TBA, but Cole’s manager Ibrahim ‘Ib’ Hamad “said fans can expect a mixture of local performers, acts from the Dreamville label and contemporary stars,” according to WaPo. Pre-sale tickets are on sale now and the public on-sale begins Monday (4/30).

This announcement follows the release of Cole’s new album KOD, which either stands for “Kids On Drugs,” “King Overdosed,” or “Kill Our Demons.” As you may have guessed (or already figured out) from that or the cover art (above), Cole explores the dark side of drugs and addiction on this album, and tackles both his mother’s struggles with it and the SoundCloud rappers who glorify it. Cole produced most of the album himself and, yes, it once again has no features (the one “guest,” KiLL Edward, is actually just a pitched-down J Cole), and he’s really got a lush sound on this one — it’s some of Cole’s most gorgeous production work to date. Cole has faced some of his usual criticism for that album, like that he’s too self-righteous or just plain boring, but you also get the sense that this a different, special record for Cole. The jury may always be split on him, but it’s at least worth hearing for yourself if you haven’t done that yet. You can listen below.

Also watch two videos from the album, and Miguel‘s new video featuring J Cole, below.

J Cole also headlines the Dallas, Austin, and Houston editions of JMBLYA next weekend, and Miami’s Rolling Loud the weekend after that.