J. Cole, Summer Walker head to Dave & Buster’s in Cary after Dreamville Festival
After two days of Dreamville Festival performances at Dorothea Dix Park, some R&B and hip-hop artists stopped by a Cary night spot to celebrate.
Social media videos show J. Cole — the Fayetteville rapper who founded the Dreamville Festival — along with Atlanta singer Summer Walker and Wake Flocka Flame at Dave & Buster’s in Cary.
Videos show Walker, Cole, R&B singer Jessie Reyez and others shooting basketball in the arcade. In another video, Walker faces off against rapper Waka Flocka Flame for a fierce game of table top air hockey and then challenges R&B singer and fellow Atlanta native 6lack (pronounced black).
Video shows Walker, still dressed in the white dress she performed in on Dreamville’s Shine Stage, making basket after basket, prompting Cole to place his hands on his head, speechless.
“What?” Walker asked with a smile to Cole, who played basketball at St. John’s University in New York as well as professionally in Africa and Canada.
Walker also posted to her Instagram story that she won $440 while at the arcade and didn’t lose a game.
Dave & Buster’s is on Walnut Street near the former Cary Towne Center — about 15 minutes from Dix Park. Dave & Buster’s did not respond to The News & Observer’s requests for comment. The location in Cary is the only one in the Triangle and stays open on the weekend until 1 a.m.
Reyez, who performed at Dreamville Festival on Saturday, also shot some basketballs at the arcade, according to her Instagram story post.
The festival wrapped up around shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday. Though it is not clear how long the Dreamville acts stayed at the bar and whether others joined them, several people in the music industry took to social media to document the night.
Drake apparently shut down Dave & Buster’s for the after-party, according to rapper Playboy Poppy on his Instagram. He posted a video of Cole and rapper Lil Uzi Vert talking at the arcade.
Pop-ups in the Triangle
The artists spotted at the arcade bar all gave energetic performances on Saturday and Sunday at Dix Park.
Artists Burna Boy, J.I.D, Baby Tate, Arya Starr, Reuben Vincent, Cozz, and GloRilla performed Sunday.
Cole closed out the night of the festival alongside Drake. The two performed some of their biggest hits, sending fans out with a bang.
Some other celebrities made unannounced appearances on stage and around the Triangle this weekend.
Drake surprised fans with appearances and performances by Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert, GloRilla, and 21 Savage, the Atlanta rapper who will join him on tour this year.
Walker also invited 6lack on stage during her set Sunday afternoon.
On Friday, Usher visited He’s Not Here, a popular bar in Chapel Hill, before he closed out the first night of Dreamville Festival on Saturday.
Cole, a Fayetteville native, has been receiving praise for his creation of Dreamville Festival this weekend. The festival started in Raleigh in 2019 with just over 40,000 in attendance.
The festival has grown bigger with an estimated 100,000 people in Raleigh for the span of the weekend. The festival is expected to generate over $7.8 million in economic impact to Raleigh and Wake County.
“So cool to see them hanging out at the same Dave & Busters I frequent on the regular,” one Twitter user commented.
“Imagine sitting in Dave and Busters and the entire Dreamville festival walk in. Insane,” another Instagram user commented under a post by blog site The Shade Room.
Dreamville Festival organizers have not announced if the event will return to Dix Park next spring.
This story was originally published April 3, 2023 at 4:39 PM.