J. Cole has been building his Dreamville Records for the past 12 years, launching the label in 2007. It's finally formed into his full vision and the squad is ready to make its mark in hip-hop. Now Cole and the entire Dreamville roster—Bas, Cozz, EarthGang, J.I.D, Lute, Omen and Ari Lennox—grace the cover of XXL magazine's spring 2019 issue.

The Dreamville crew took a break from rap camp at Atlanta's Tree Sound Studios in January, where they were recording songs for the Revenge of the Dreamers III compilation, to squad up for the cover, shot by photographer Jonathan Mannion and styled by Dreamville Fashion Director Raeana Anaïs.

For the new issue of XXL, each artist on the Dreamville roster has a Q&A featuring talk centered on everything from their individual music to the Revenge of the Dreamers III recording sessions to recurring dreams. J. Cole's unyielding leadership, Bas' everyman lyrics, Ari's heartwarming soul, EarthGang's eccentric musical aesthetics, J.I.D's lyrical firepower, Lute's kinetic rhymes, Omen's poetic bars and Cozz's fire raps are all recognized.

Cole is aware of the big responsibility he has with the family of artists he's signed. "The past fucking five or six years, it's become like, I'm responsible—I owe it to these artists, to the fans of these artists," the North Carolina native tells XXL in his cover story. "I've got to pop this shit off to give them the best shit to have sustainable careers doing this shit because this is my family now. I love these people and I'm a big fan of them. I really believe in their talent."

Elsewhere in the mag, we have a discussion with many of the key players in the room during the Revenge of the Dreamers III recording sessions, catch up with Young M.A for What's Happenin', the famed Maury Povich talks rap in Hip-Hop Junkie, Lil Pump's manager, Dooney Battle, offers advice in Plus 1, Tory Lanez addresses the controversy surrounding his name, Rich The Kid looks back on his rise to fame, Ebro Darden opens up about his new phase of broadcasting with Apple Music, Mustard gives a preview of what to expect from his upcoming sophomore album, Zaytoven chops it up about his epic career in music, plus Show & Prove interviews with Blueface, Comethazine and Flipp Dinero.

There's also a rundown of 29 essential rap documentaries, five records that blew up while artists were dealing with serious legal drama, Papoose breaking down the verse for "Numerical Slaughter" featuring DJ Premier, plus interviews with F.L.Y. for the 10-year anniversary of "Swag Surfin'," Masego, producer Scum Beatz and Killer Mike.

The spring issue of XXL is on newsstands everywhere April 9.

See All Photos From Dreamville's Spring 2019 XXL Magazine Cover Story

Go Behind the Scenes of XXL Magazine's Spring 2019 Cover Story 

XXL
XXL
loading...

More From XXL