J. Cole is Playing a Surprise $1 Concert in Dallas on Sunday

Believe it or not, J. Cole is one of the most sought after rappers today. His latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, sold over 350, 000 copies in its first week after being announced just three weeks prior with a minuscule amount of promotion in terms of what you'd expect...

By H. Drew Blackburn

June 18, 2015

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2015 is shaping up to be the year of the free, surprise concert in Dallas. Just last month, for instance, The Bomb Factory hosted a "VIP party" at its newly renovated digs with a free-to-the-public appearance by Marina and the Diamonds — a clever bit of publicity in which attendees didn't even know who would be playing, but hey, it was free. It's not an entirely new trend; in a much less radical sense, Red Bull has been hosting dirt-cheap-with-an-RSVP shows every month for a couple years. Now it looks like North Carolina rapper J. Cole is getting in on the fun.

Well, OK, this one isn't exclusive to Dallas, but it's still a win for local concertgoers. Cole is about to embark on his third annual Dollar and a Dream tour, in which fans can catch him performing for the "dream" price of just $1, and the tour kicks off in Dallas this Sunday, June 21. Still, the idea feels a little more special given the guerrilla nature of its announcement — Cole only dropped the news on Twitter this week, just a few days before the show is set to take place.

The details remain sparse, which adds a little extra mystery to the whole thing: He'll reportedly perform his acclaimed mixtape, Friday Night Lights, in full. For the time being that's all the information that's out there. The rest of the pertinent info, as in where and exactly what time the show takes place, will be announced via J. Cole and his label Dreamville's Twitter accounts on the day of the show. So, Cole fans (Cole Blooded Americans?) should keep an eye on those pages.

Believe it or not, Cole is one of the most sought-after rappers out there today. His latest album, 2014's Forest Hills Drive, sold over 350,000 copies in its first week. That was after it had been announced just three weeks prior, with a minuscule amount of promotion in terms of what you'd expect from an artist on a major label. His hook, though, was fan service. He's all about the fans and the sentiment still reigns supreme.

As far as speculation on where Cole is performing? It would make sense if he did a Live Nation-approved venue, as he's signed to the Roc Nation record label. He'll actually be back in Dallas on August 23 at Gexa Energy Pavillion to play with Big Sean, YG and Jeremih as part of the Forest Hills Drive tour, so he may try avoiding overlap at Gexa. With that said, Gexa doesn't have a show Sunday, nor does the Live Nation-owned House of Blues. Don't count out a place like The Bomb Factory either, seeing how they already have the Marina and the Diamonds show in their CV.

Really, though, your guess is as good as ours.

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