Dreamville's latest compilation album, Revenge of the Dreamers 3, is filled with posse cuts, but "Down Bad" may be its most exhilarating. While every Dreamville artist featured on the track - J. Cole, Bas, J.I.D, EARTHGANG - indubitably spazzed out, they enlisted the Atlanta heavy-hitter, Young Nudy to start the show.
Upon hearing the first wheezing noises of the beat, it became clear that "Down Bad" would be a somewhat off-kilter affair. Nudy serves as the composed ringmaster that introduces you to the Dreamville spectacle. The beat threatens to detonate beneath his steady bars and once they're abruptly cut out, things become increasingly erratic. Each Dreamville artist that steps into the ring gives a mesmerizing performance, rapping as if on the verge of mania.
The music video mirrors this sonic dynamic. The camera calmly follows Nudy as he delivers his verse, strolling whilst smoking a blunt. Once he passes the torch to J.I.D via fist bump, hell breaks loose. Visual effects are thrown onto shaky shots of the gang doing all kinds of shenanigans around East Atlanta. The video ends with them loafing in a private jet and partying atop the city's Olympic Torch Tower, mocking whoever let these hooligans acquire all this power.
