Around 11 a.m., even before J. Cole officially announced (at 1:14 p.m.via Twitter) the Miami location for his Dollar & Dream tour, there were hundreds of hip-hop heads queuing up outside of downtown hangout Grand Central.
Obviously, there had been a breach of secrecy. Someone snitched. A leak was sprung. "Somehow a few fans guessed the location correctly," Ibrahim Hamad of Cole's Dreamville crew tells Crossfade. And after the North Carolina rapper revealed that GC was indeed the venue for the $1 show, it became a total mob scene.
The cops arrived to control the crowd. "Overall it was about 3000 people there that lined up to catch the show," Hamad says. And soon, J. Cole confirmed that the "police won't let us do a second show."
See also: Review & Photos: J. Cole's Dollar & A Dream Tour - Grand Central, Miami
police won't let us do a 2nd show tonight
— J. Cole (@JColeNC) July 17, 2014In both of the cities, London and NYC, where Cole's already made Dollar & A Dream stops, there have been two sets, featuring a full run-through of the rapper's breakthrough album, The Warm Up.
Fans in the 305 expected the same deal. Especially since Cole did back-to-back shows at The Stage when he stopped in Miami for his first Dollar & A Dream tour last summer. But the police had different plans this time around.
"We never called the police and I'm not sure who actually did," Hamad says. "They just showed up a little bit after Cole tweeted [about the location of the show.]
"I think they remember the scene outside of our Dollar & A Dream show in Miami last year and wanted to be more prepared this time. The crowd wasn't rowdy at all, they just wanted to see a show, but the cops forced a big part of the crowd to leave early."
See also: Ten Softest Rappers in the Game
Wristbands were sold on a first-come, first-served basis to the fans at GC, but it wasn't long before those wristbands ran out.
While many believed that more passes would eventually be sold, the club's reps announced that there would be no more entry and asked the remaining crowd to disperse.
But after weathering Miami's heat and humidity, J. Cole's dedicated followers were not about to give up that easy. Hundreds of rowdy fans surrounded the entrance to Grand Central and passionately chanted Cole's name.
By 5:30 p.m., though, the police had the area surrounding Grand Central cordoned off, refusing to allow any fans (or media) near the club.
"Because of the capacity of the club and the Fire Marshall monitoring us, they let in close to 900 people," Hamad says. "The other 2000 fans were sticking around at first hoping for a second show, but we couldn't make that happen.
"The curfew of the venue and the cops wanting to clear the crowd out and not have thousands of people outside made them shut down our second show.
"Cole always feels bad at these shows 'cause he wishes everyone can get in and he was ready to add a second show, but they wouldn't let us."
--With reporting by Pablo Chacon Alvarez
Crossfade's Top Blogs
-Five Signs You Might Be a Shitty Rapper
Follow Crossfade on Facebook and Twitter @Crossfade_SFL.
