Dreamville Records has announced the formation of Dreamville Ventures, a multi-disciplinary media company, and Dreamville Studios, a content studio that will produce original and co-produced content. Coming aboard to lead the new division is Damien Scott, president of Dreamville, and Candace Rodney, who serves as Dreamville executive vice president and president of Dreamville Studios.
J. Cole, the North Carolina rapper (whose real name is Jermaine Cole) co-founded Dreamville in 2007 as a record label, with distribution by Interscope Records. It’s currently home to Cole along with such artists as Bas, Cozz, Ari Lennox, J.I.D, Lute, Omen and EarthGang. Among its most successful releases is the compilation album “Revenge of the Dreamers III,” which was certified platinum by the RIAA earlier this year.
Said Cole: “Dreamville has always been a mom-and-pop operation with grand ambitions and ideas that extend far beyond music. The hiring of Damien and Candace not only expands our family business with two of the smartest and most capable executives in the industry, but allows us to take a massive leap towards turning those big ideas into reality.”
In their newly created positions, Scott and Rodney are tasked with overseeing the day-to-day operations of Dreamville Ventures as well as its build-out which will include verticals across music, TV and film, publishing, apparel and live events (Cole’s Dreamville Festival is an annual draw since 2018).
Scott was previously at Complex Media where he held the tile of editor-in-chief and vp of content and development and helped launch the ComplexCon festival.
Prior to joining Dreamville, Rodney served as senior vp of development at Wilmore Films. Her resume also includes positions at Sony Pictures Television, Lionsgate Television and Creative Artists Agency.
“Dreamville is a brand we built from the ground up and the appointments of Damien and Candace allows us to take the company to levels we’ve always dreamed of while keeping our core values and beliefs at the forefront of our expansion,” added Ibrahim Hamad, co-founder of Dreamville, which also boasts alliances with such brand partners as PUMA and BAPE, among others.