J. Cole made the announcement of his Dreamville imprint on the day of his birth, January 28th, the same day he delivered his compilation Revenge Of The Dreamers, to immediately set things off. We heard from Cole shortly after the big news, via an interview with Billboard, but as it turns out, there was more to the conversation than we initially thought.
Billboard has revealed more of the interview with Cole, as the rapper-turned-label head discusses finalizing his Dreamville imprint with Interscope's head of urban music, Joie Manda. The Cole World MC also reveals that the deal has been done since December.
"We’ve been dreaming about a label situation for years," Cole said while speaking to Billboard. "The deal’s been official since late December, and we’d been working on it for a while before that, but it felt too important to just go out and yell it right when it happened. It needed a more grand announcement."
The North Carolina native went on to explain how Manda initially reached out to him, although Cole first assumed it would be for production purposes-- as it turns out, Manda wants Cole to be the new Dr. Dre, or rather, "a Dr. Dre to his Jimmy Iovine."
"I thought he wanted me to produce someone over there and I was excited about that, but then he told me that he really believed in me as an executive, a label CEO and a producer. A Dr. Dre to his Jimmy Iovine. He had the vision," Cole said.
While all of Cole's affiliates K-Quick, Bas and Omen were featured on the Revenge Of The Dreamers tape, only one has officially sealed the deal and signed to Dreamville/Interscope-- that is Bas.
Bas will be dropping the very first project through Dreamville, Last Winter, on March 6th, and it'll be available for purchase on iTunes.
Cole continued to discuss the venture, "When they believe in something, they show it. They pull out all the stops. Every artist wants that kind of power, and if I can utilize that, it’s game over. Jimmy Iovine told me that no one turns a spark into a flame like Interscope, and that’s what made me choose them."
Stay posted for Bas' Last Winter, and let us know what you think of the Paris-born rapper.
