DJ from Fayetteville rap scene a mainstay in J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival

Editor's note: This is an updated version of the original story.

The Oxford Languages website defines sound as vibrations that travel through the air or another medium and can be heard when they reach a person’s or animal’s ear. Noise is described as a loud or unpleasant sound that causes a disturbance.

A knowledgeable sound and technology team is integral at an event the size of J. Cole's Dreamville Festival where last year's attendance reached 100,000. The streets of downtown Raleigh will be filled with sounds and festivalgoers from around the world at this year's event on April 6-7.

People like David Ngoi, better known as DJ Paradime, work in the background to keep the noise away.

Ngoi understands the importance of good sound quality. The Greensboro native started his DJ career after falling in love with music by way of his sister. Initially, he got into deejaying for the love of music. However, people inquired about booking him for parties. He began DJing alumni parties during homecoming at North Carolina A&T State University.

More:Keem Jones: ‘He listened.’ How the Fayetteville rap scene produced J. Cole

He graduated to producing mixtapes and built his buzz with music groups like Hall Of Justus and artists like Durham hip-hop duo Little Brother.

More:Keem Jones: ‘He listened.’ How the Fayetteville rap scene produced J. Cole

Through his work, he met Brion Unger, better known as Nervous Reck, one-half of the Fayetteville rap duo Bomm Sheltuh. Unger introduced Ngoi to the music of his protege, J. Cole, through Cole’s mixtape, "The Come Up," hosted by DJ OnPoint.

Ngoi, aka Paradime, was a regular on the mixtape circuit and familiar with OnPoint’s work. However, Ngoi enjoyed Cole’s rapping ability and contacted him. The pair established a relationship during the early days of Cole’s career. Ngoi eventually began deejaying at Fayetteville-area clubs like It’z and became a regular DJ at The SpeakEasy. When Cole visited Fayetteville, he could be spotted at The SpeakEasy with his friends supporting Paradime. Ngoi would eventually become the official DJ for Dreamville signee and Raleigh native King Mez.

Dreamville 2024

The first act to ever perform at the inaugural Dreamville festival in April 2019 was King Mez accompanied by none other than DJ Paradime. By this time, Ngoi's company, Cool Receptions, allowed him to remove himself from the club atmosphere and focus on building his brand and company. Cool Receptions specializes in event planning, handling everything from entertainment to audio/visual services. Then, COVID-19 brought business (and the world) to an abrupt halt, forcing Ngoi to pivot. His pivot was the founding of the print company, Dime Wraps which offers large-format print material such as vinyl wrapping and event decor.

Though Ngoi was on stage at the first Dreamville Festival, he continues to make his mark behind the scenes. Armed with skills learned through deejaying, Cool Receptions, and Dime Wraps, Ngoi is extremely active during the week of the Dreamville Festival. He can be seen at the pop-up shop, event pre-parties, and afterparties (The Afties).

While attendees are preparing for the festivities, Ngoi said his days leading up to the festival are spent ensuring his team and venues are properly equipped, doing site visits, sound checks, and most importantly ensuring his family is taken care of in his absence. He said his wife is an extremely important component his and his team’s ability to perform adequately. Often, his family joins him in sharing the workload. He said his family and giving back are of high importance to him.

“The best part for me is definitely the community activations prior to the festival”, the 41-year-old said. “The giving back to the community, giving back to hip-hop, giving back to the culture that really gave me everything."

In the week leading up to the 2022 and 2023 Dreamville Festivals, Ngoi taught a DJ 101 class on the campus of NC State University and again the next day at the Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh.His class was free and open to the public. During the 2023 Dreamville Festival, Ngoi gifted a young boy a set of studio-quality speakers to motivate him to pursue his career as a DJ.

He will be bringing back his DJ 101 class for the 2024 Dreamville Festival along with other events.

For those events or to contact DJ Paradime for booking, follow him on Instagram at @justdime.

Salute to Paradime and every activist getting active. Peace.