Drake and J. Cole cemented their close bond with a singalong of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” at Dreamville Festival.
The rap superstars shared top billing at Cole’s annual festival in Raleigh, North Carolina on Sunday night (April 2) and brought the weekend to a close with a co-headlining set.
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Taking the stage moments after Cole wrapped up his 45-minute performance, Drake ran through a career-spanning setlist while bringing out a number of surprise guests.
GloRilla came out to perform her breakout hit “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” much to the delight of the female attendees, before Lil Uzi Vert appeared shortly after to energize the Dorothea Dix Park crowd with “XO Tour Llif3” and “Just Wanna Rock.”
After running through a few songs that he “doesn’t usually do” at J. Cole’s request — “Marvins Room,” “Wu-Tang Forever” and “Practice” — Drizzy sent the crowd into a frenzy by bringing out Lil Wayne for a duet of “The Motto.”
“Dreamville, I told you I got it if you want it! The boss is here! I don’t know what to tell you! I’m gonna leave you in the hands of the greatest rapper to ever touch a microphone tonight,” Drake said before Weezy dove into “Uproar” and “A Milli.”
21 Savage rounded out the star-studded affair by joining his Her Loss cohort for “Knife Talk” and “Rich Flex.”
Before the festival came to a close for another year, Drake welcomed J. Cole back to the stage and instructed the crowd to show their “gratitude” to the North Carolina rap star.
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“I’ma play this next song, and if you love this man like I love this man, you’ll sing as loud as you can,” the OVO boss said before cuing up Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Cole returned the favor by showering Drake with praise.
“This man right here, bro, I’m such a fan and I feel like I’m speaking for all of us when I say this: we’re all wowed, amazed, blown away by your greatness, bro,” he said to a roar of cheers from the audience.
“It gives a n-gga chills to see you do this shit at the highest level nonstop and constantly serve us and bless us with the fucking soundtrack to our lives. I’m blown away by your greatness, bro.”
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Drake later shared a series of photos from his Dreamville Festival performance on Instagram, while giving fans a closer look at the custom Dreamville x Nike NOCTA baseball jersey he wore on stage.
“I want more of THIS years and years with the gang I’m talking plural,” he captioned the slideshow. “And to get there we’ll turn any weirdo to a mural.”
Drake’s performance serves as yet another warm-up for his forthcoming It’s All a Blur Tour, which takes him and co-headliner 21 Savage across North America this summer.
The 42-date trek kicks off on June 16 in New Orleans and wraps up on September 5 in Glendale, Arizona, with stops in cities such as Houston, Miami, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto along the way.
