Along with spearheading the soundtrack to Michael B. Jordan’s box office smash CREED III, Dreamville’s philanthropic efforts have also been at the center of the ring.
Hosting a “Recreation Day” Feb. 26 at the Roy A. Anderson Center in Los Angeles, the J. Cole-led collective not only raised awareness for physical and mental health, but promoted the new music scored throughout the film.
The all-ages event, which included young members from The Boys and Girls Club, organized a variety of sports workshops such as boxing, basketball, yoga and breathwork. With the hope of bestowing guests tools to effectively manage emotional trauma, the effects of being incarcerated and other everyday difficulties, Dreamville’s “Recreation Day” proved to be a slam dunk for all 150 attendees.
Dreamville affiliate and designer LaMont “Tory” Stapleton helped organize the event, speaking on the “opportunity to really tap in with the community and do work that is so essential.” “For a lot of people it’s basketball, boxing, or just a sport, but it’s so much bigger than that,” he said. “It gives you the chance to take you away from the troubles of your everyday life.”
Upon arrival, guests were blessed with Dreamville yoga mats, water bottles and of course, a grip of CREED III merch. After reveling in their free gifts, yoga instructor Lorenzo Lawrence led breathing exercises and a light meditation before putting the participants’ balance to the test with yoga poses like “warrior” and “tree pose” among others.
After an hour of yoga instruction, guests then headed to the court. A basketball clinic came complete with layup lines and shooting exercises, as patrons practiced the basics of the game while DJ R-Tistic spun rap classics in the background.
The clinic served as a de facto warm-up for the main event: The Dreamville Dunk Contest. Hoopers like Anthony Hamilton Jr., Tyler Currie, New Williams and Quan Bailey earned multiple perfect scores from the judges table — wholeheartedly impressing the onlooking crowd.
Dreamville is no stranger to community outreach, according to Johnny Venus, who makes up half of Dreamville’s coveted duo Earthgang.
“We create community everywhere we go. The Dreamville fan base, the Earthgang fan base, is world wide,” Venus said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re in LA or we’re in Ghana or we’re in New Zealand…All of these people, in some way, have been touched by something we do. But it’s fire to actually be here in person and affect their lives in person.”
The cultural realms of music and sports are inherently synonymous, as the high-powered CREED soundtracks have become a staple to the franchise over the years.
The first soundtrack featured the likes of Future, Meek Mill and Joey Bada$$ while the second installment received a full makeover executive produced by Mike WILL Made-IT. Containing a slew of superstar talent in A$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell and more, J. Cole and Ari Lennox’s “Shea Butter Baby” proved to be a huge hit off CREED II — paving the way for Cole and company to earn creative control on the film’s third soundtrack.
CREED III premiered on Friday (March 3) and has already exceeded its box-office projections. Raking in $58.7 million in North America and $41.8 million internationally, the film’s impressive performance not only marks the highest opening weekend for a film in the CREED trilogy, but also reportedly set a new record for the largest domestic opening weekend for a sports movie.
Check out more of the event below!
