A Review of Dreamville's "Revenge Of The Dreamers III"

After months of speculation, Dreamville’s long-awaited compilation album “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” has finally arrived. The J. Cole led music label has seen much success in recent months, most notably the success of JID’s November 2018 release, “DiCaprio 2” as well as the success of Ari Lennox’s May 2019 release, “Shea Butter Baby.” Other Dreamville artists like EARTHGANG, Cozz, Bas, Lute, and Omen have also seen their share of success with the releases of their most recent projects, putting Dreamville in the conversation for one of the best Hip-Hop Labels along with Quality Control and Top Dawg Entertainment. Furthermore, the concept of a Dreamville compilation album coming off a very successful 2018 is something that has left fans salivating for new music, ever since the rumors of such an album have surfaced. Dreamville has released a good amount of singles leading up to the release of the full project, starting off with J. Cole’s “Middle Child” in January. Dreamville also released two Eps containing 2 songs each, the first “1-888-88-DREAM” and the second being “ROTD3.COM.” On “1-888-88-DREAM,” Dreamville released “Down Bad” by JID, Bas, J. Cole, EARTHGANG, with Young Nudy being featured and “Got Me” by Ari Lennox and Omen featuring Ty Dolla $ign and Dreezy. “ROTD3.COM” had “LamboTruck” by Cozz, featuring REASON and Childish Major, while also having “Costa Rica” by Bas, JID featuring, Mez, Buddy, Jace, Reese LAFLARE, Ski Mask the Slump God, Smokepurpp and Guapdad 4000. Judging by these singles, I think it’s needless to say that this album will have a lot of features throughout it. DaBaby, Young Nudy, REASON, Childish Major, Zoink Gang, KEY!, Maxo Kream, Yung Baby Tate, Guapdad 4000, Buddy, Mez, DaVionne, Baby Rose, T.I., Mez, Jace, Reese LAFLARE, Ski Mask the Slump God, Smokepurpp, Smino, Vince Staples, Ty Dolla $ign, Dreezy, Mereba, Deante’ Hitchcock, St. Beauty, and Saba all appear as features on the 1 hour and 4 minute long album made up of 18 songs. Now, without further ado, let’s get to the review!

Categories

The songs on this album divided into three lanes that are prevalent throughout the project

Dreamville Spitters

Songs with an intense focus on flows and lyrical content over beats with a smooth, chill vibe

• “Under The Sun” ft. J. Cole, Lute & DaBaby (1)

• “Down Bad” ft. Young Nudy, JID, Bas, J. Cole, EARTHGANG (1)

• “LamboTruck” ft. Cozz, REASON, & Childish Major (1.5)

• “Swivel” ft. EARTHGANG (1)

• “Oh Wow…Swerve” ft. J. Cole, Maxo Kream, Zoink Gang, & KEY! (1.5)

• “Sleep Deprived” ft. Lute, Omen, Mez, & DaVionne (1.5)

• “Ladies, Ladies, Ladies” ft. JID & T.I. (1.5)

• “1993” ft. Buddy, Smino, Cozz, EARTHGANG, JID, & J. Cole (1)

• “Rembrandt…Run It Back” ft. JID, J. Cole & Vince Staples (1)

• “MIDDLE CHILD” ft. J. Cole (1.5)

• “PTSD” ft. Mereba, Deante’ Hitchcock, Omen, & St. Beauty (1.5)

• “Sacrifices” ft. EARTHGANG, Smino, Saba & J. Cole (1.5)

Dreamville n B

Songs with an RnB vibe created with a bigger focus on cadence over a smooth beat

• “Don’t Hit Me Right Now” ft. Bas, Cozz, Yung Baby Tate, Guapdad 4000, & Buddy (1)

• “Self Love” ft. Ari Lennox, Baby Rose, & Bas (1.5)

• “Got Me” ft. Ty Dolla $ign, Ari Lennox, Omen, & Dreezy (1.5)

Turn It Up

More hype beats with a focus on flow and cadence

• “Wells Fargo” ft. Guapdad 4000, Buddy, EARTHGANG, & JID (.5)

• “Costa Rica” ft. Bas, JID, Mez, Buddy, Jace, Reese LAFLARE, Ski Mask the Slump God, Smokepurpp and Guapdad 4000 (1.5)

• “Sunset” ft. J. Cole & Young Nudy (1.5)

Must Listen Songs

The concept of Must Listen songs are the songs that would give the best overview of the album as a whole. Songs that stand out for reasons to be described in the pending descriptions of the songs.

“Oh Wow…Swerve” ft. J. Cole, Maxo Kream, Zoink Gang, & KEY!

The fifth track on Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” is a two-part masterpiece produced by LiLa, KeanuBeats, Hollywood JB, and Bizness Boi. The first part of the song is a calm boom bap type beat accompanied by a J. Cole verse. The standout line in J. Cole’s verse is when he raps, “so active on the radio, I’m radioactive, nigga.” The first part of the song also has Zoink Gang on the hook while the second part has KEY! On the hook. The second part of the song has a faster pace compared to the first part of the song. The Maxo Kream verse on the second part of the song is a bar filled work of art. Overall this song sounds like two completely different songs, however, the ability to transition from the first part to the second part allows it to feel like one song.

“Sleep Deprived” ft. Lute, Omen, Mez, & DaVionne

Track eight on Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” is a beautiful song filled with great lyricism demonstrated by Lute, Mez and Omen and exceptional singing by DaVionne. The beat is a calm, walk in the park type beat made with a soft piano, subtle bass, and high hat mix, as well as the use of a bass guitar in the background. Wonderful production by Jay “Kurzweil” Oyebadejo, Sensei Bueno and ClickNPress.

“Self Love” ft. Ari Lennox, Baby Rose & Bas

Track number nine on Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” is a soulful song produced by Sensei Bruno. The beat, made with a slow high hat and bass mix along with an acoustic guitar is simple, but still sets the vibe for the singing of Ari Lennox and Baby Rose. The content within the song is best summarized by the line “Self love is the best love” sung first by Ari Lennox then Baby Rose. The verse by Bas provides an expansion of this thought as he gives his take on the concept. Overall, one of the more important songs on the album because of the content within it.

“Sunset” ft. J. Cole & Young Nudy

J. Cole & Young Nudy come together on track fourteen Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” is a dark bass driven song produced by PyrexTurnMeUp and CHASETHEMONEY. The beat is relatively simple, a slow soft bass, with slightly faster use of the high hats. The beat sets the dark mood for the song, which is amplified by the cadences used by J.Cole and Young Nudy. Of course, the J. Cole verse is a great one, however, his ability to change his cadence on the hook helps make the hook as catchy as it is. The Young Nudy verse is a good one as he is put on a beat where he has shown a high comfort level before.

“PTSD” ft. Mereba, Deante’ Hitchcock, Omen, & St.Beauty

The penultimate track on Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” is a song full of reflection as each artist reflects upon people who have impacted their life. Kenneth Harris and Cam O’bi have produced a beat that takes the appropriate backseat to the lyrical content within each verse. The beat is comprised of a smooth bassline, subtle high hats, and a soft piano. Each verse tells an individual story, which is beautifully complemented by the wonderful singing of St.Beauty which brings more emotion into the song.

Final Review

Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” is a project littered with songs that simply scream quality. Firstly, to start the album with a cameo from Kendrick Lamar, albeit just two lines, sets the bar really high for the 17 songs that come after “Under The Sun.” Now for just about every song to either reach or surpass the bar set by “Under The Sun” is a feat that is impressive by itself. With compilation albums, it’s very rare you get a product that is cohesive, keeping the same vibe and values throughout the whole project. But Dreamville’s ability to incorporate all these featured artists and producers within one project while still producing a cohesive project that can be listened back to front with no skips is impressive. The storytelling on songs like “LamboTruck,” “Ladies Ladies Ladies” and “PTSD” is something that simply can’t be described with words. Each artist’s ability to make the listener relate to each story to the point where the listener starts to reminisce is impressive. Every feature on this album is placed perfectly within each song in positions where their talents are able to shine. Overall, “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” leaves the listener wondering and feeling bad for whomever these dreamers want revenge on.

Scoring

Raw Score: The number of good songs on a project versus the overall amount. Songs must have a +1 or above to be counted.

Quality Score: The total amount of points accumulated over the total amount of songs.

Playback value: The resonance an album is perceived to have if played again in full. Scale out of 5.

Raw Score: 17/18

Quality Score: 23/18

Playback Value: 5/5

Go out and listen to Dreamville’s “Revenge Of The Dreamers III” wherever you listen to your music. Also, don’t forget to check out OLDMLK’s Instagram page (@OLDMLK) and Twitter (@OLDMLKDOTCOM) for updates on OLDMLK.COM: The Most Essential Hip Hop Blog, The OLDMLK.Com Playlist, The OLDMLK Radar and more!