Following its 2015 release, Revenge Of The Dreamers II, Dreamville, a record label founded by hip-hop artist and producer J. Cole, released its third compilation album, Revenge Of The Dreamers III. Dreamville Records currently consists of artists J. Cole, Bas, Cozz, Ari Lennox, Omen, JID, Lute and EARTHGANG.
Other than the artists on the label, Cole and the Dreamville crew brought in a slew of producers, songwriters and artists to collaborate on the album. Some of the hottest artists in hip-hop are featured on the album, including DaBaby, T.I., Kendrick Lamar and Vince Staples.
Out of the rather lengthy 18-track album, the songs that jump out the most are: “Under The Sun,” “Don’t Hit Me Right Now,” “Wells Fargo,” “1993” and “Sacrifices.”
The opening song, “Under the Sun (feat. J. Cole, Lute & DaBaby),” begins with a soul sample of “If You Miss Me At the Back of the Bus” by Pete Singer. A surprised uncredited feature from Kendrick Lamar is a nice cherry on top of the sure-to-be-a-hit song, and DaBaby killed his verse as per usual.
“Don’t Hit Me Right Now (feat. Bas, Cozz, Yung Baby Tate, Guapdad 4000 & Buddy)” has a catchy hook led by Guapdad 4000 that is an instant attention grabber. Plus, Yung Baby Tate’s catchy and smooth-flowing verse in the middle of the track is the perfect amount of female vocals to even out the song.
Set as the album’s interlude, “Wells Fargo (feat. JID, EarthGang, Buddy & Guapdad 4000)” is quite possibly the most intense song on the album, considering its catchy hook that’s rapped by all the featured artists. With the addition of strong verses from Buddy and JID, the song would be great for clubbing or working out.
The best party song on the album has to be “1993 (feat. Buddy, Smino, Cozz, EARTHGANG, JID & J. Cole).” Groovy and filled with fun lyrics, it’s obvious that the artists were just having fun in the studio while creating this gem.
In “Sacrifices (feat. EARTHGANG, J. Cole, Smino & Saba),” the deep, motivational chorus, along with the strong beat and J. Cole’s powerful verse, add up to an incredible song. The track closes the album, and Dreamville probably couldn’t have picked a better song to do so.
With so many multi-talented artists and songwriters working on the album, there are so many strong lyrics on Revenge Of The Dreamers III. REASON’s verse on “LamboTruck” holds down the strength of the track despite the beat being laidback, “Made a living staying posted like I’m Diesel / This no sequel / This that third times a charm, and I been charming; Cozz been evil / You get clips, this hammer regal / Unexpected, there you have, it’s been affected / So ill, these words infectious.”
Similarly, Cole’s verse on “Oh Wow...Swerve” shows the rapper getting a bit deep. The artist raps, “Never slouching, not even on couches in the living room / And I feel like the world is ending soon / Is there any good or bad? Well that’s depending on you / And if you wake up in time / I know it’s better to be sleep; that’s why we hate the alarm.”
Continuing Cole’s deep lyrics on “Oh Wow...Swerve,” the rapper talks about fatherhood on the album’s closer, “Sacrifices.” “She gave me the gift of my son, and plus we got one on the way / She gave me a family to love; for that, I can never repay / I’m crying while writing these worlds, the tears, they feel good on my face, hey,” Cole raps emotionally.
Nonetheless, the Dreamville crew kill it with Revenge Of The Dreamers III. With so many artists and producers invited to work on the album, a competitive nature was made and captured in Dreamville’s documentary, Revenge, on YouTube. Capturing the creation of the album, the documentary is a must-watch before listening to the album. It’s amazing to see how authentic the behind-the-scenes moments are in the making of a highly-regarded hip-hop album.
While Revenge shows you the making of the greatness that is Revenge Of The Dreamers III, the documentary can leave viewers wondering how huge some of the unreleased songs previewed in the documentary could have been if they made it onto the album.
