Over 60 acts of artists are scheduled for music performances at Memphis In May’s 2014 Beale Street Music Festival.
From looking at the 2014 Memphis In May Beale Street Music Festival artist line-up, it may be true, as the festival puts it, the 2014 line-up is their most diverse line-up yet.
Our job on this list is to point out to you some of the hip hop or hip hop related acts on the 2014 Beale Street Music Festival line-up.
Below we’ll list twelve (12) hip hop related music artists you might not want to miss at the upcoming 2014 Beale Street Music Festival, which takes place May 2nd, May 3rd, and May 4th in Downtown Memphis on the mighty banks of the Mississippi River in Tom Lee Park.
1) Lord T & Eloise (Friday, FedEx Stage, 6:00 p.m.)
Lord T & Eloise are known for their unique rap style as well as 18th century aristocrat wardrobes. Lord Treadwell and Maurice Eloise XIII have dubbed their rap style aristocrunk, which is also the name of their first album. Listing 8Ball & MJG and Al Kapone as some of their influences you can hear the crunk and dirty south in this duo that will be taking the stage Friday, May 2nd at the Beale Street Music Festival at 6:00PM.
2) Project Pat (Friday, Orion Stage, 6:10 p.m.)
Put your thumbs up! Long time Three 6 Mafia affiliate and brother of Juicy J, Patrick Houston of North Memphis is known as Project Pat. Currently on tour with his labelmate Juicy J of Taylor Gang, Project Pat is set to take the stage Friday, May 2nd at 6:10 PM.
3) Juicy J (Friday, FedEx Stage, 8:20 p.m.)
Rapper Juicy J, one of the co-founders of Three 6 Mafia, is also known as Juice Man. Active in the music business since 1991, it was 2010 when the rapper and music producer recreated a new focused solo career with fellow rapper and business partner Wiz Khalifa coming on as a part owner and A&R Rep of their label imprint Taylor Gang. Juicy J launched his new solo career with the new hit single “Bandz A Make Her Dance” that took the nation by storm. His first solo under the new label was “Stay Trippy” which had multiple chart topping singles and his second album “The Hustle Continues” is due out later this year.
4) Pretty Lights (Friday, FedEx Stage, 9:55 p.m.)
Music artist Derek Vincent Smith is known as Pretty Lights, an electro hip hop/soul artist, who has done a bit of the electronic dance music dubstep. Writing and producing hip hop music since 2006, the Colorado native, who was recently nominated for a Grammy, will be coming to Memphis to perform and hit the stage Friday, May 2nd at the Beale Street Music Festival.
5) Snoop Dogg aka Snoop Lion (Friday, Orion Stage, 11:00 p.m.)
Snoop Dogg needs no introduction, but if you don’t know, the rapper put the “dogg” in Doggystyle, which was his debut album back in 1994 when he linked up with famed hip hop producer Dr. Dre. Through his debut album, the rapper released hip hop classics that are still around today such as his single “Gin and Juice” recently rapped in a mash-up by Jimmy Fallon using news anchor Brian Williams. Snoop Dogg recently dubbed himself the new alias Snoop Lion in 2012 after a conversion to the Rastafari movement. Under that new moniker, he released Reggae album “Reincarnated” in 2013. The rapper is currently planning a collaboration album with Wiz Khalifa.
6) Big Gigantic (Friday, FedEx Stage, 12:15 a.m.)
Like Pretty Lights, electronic hip hop instrumental group Big Gigantic is also coming out of Colorado. Having toured the country numerous times, the group is coming to Memphis along with their live saxophone and drum sounds to take the stage on Friday, May 2nd on the FedEx Stage after midnight.
7) Eric Gales (Saturday, Orion Stage, 2:25 p.m.)
Though Eric Gales aka Raw Dawg out of Memphis, TN is considered a Blues/Rock musician, the producer plays a mean guitar and has contributed production and vocals to Memphis rap groups Prophet Posse and Three 6 Mafia. Now the music producer, guitarist and vocalist is set to take the stage at the Memphis In May Beale Street Music Festival on Saturday, May 3rd at 2:25 PM.
8) Aer (Saturday, Orion Stage, 5:35 p.m.)
Aer consists of the rising rap-rock duo David von Mering and Carter Schultz, who topped the iTunes chart with their debut EP “What You Need” in 2011 and their album “The Bright Side” in 2012 topped Billboard Hot 100.
9) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (Saturday, Bud Light Stage, 7:20 p.m.)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony out of Cleveland, Ohio consists of rappers Krayzie Bone, Layzie Bone, Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone and Flesh-N-Bone. The group first made their debut after being signed by Ruthless Records CEO, the late rapper Eazy-E of NWA. After a hiatus from the hip hop scene, solo careers and on-and-off music projects together, the group is now performing together again and is set to take the Bud Light Stage Saturday, May 3rd at the Beale Street Music Festival at 7:20 PM.
10) Twenty One Pilots (Saturday, FedEx Stage, 8:15 p.m.)
Twenty One Pilots is a rap-rock, indie pop duo out of Columbus, Ohio consisting of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun. Touring all over the country, the group is now promoting their studio debut “Vessel,” which mixes high tech pop with rap. The duo will be performing songs from their latest project on the FedEx Stage on Saturday, May 3rd at 8:15 PM.
11) Kid Rock (Saturday, Orion Stage, 10:35 p.m.)
Kid Rock has been rocking stages since the early nineties and has not slowed up. With a huge following, Kid Rock has sold over 23 million albums according to RIAA, but stays true to his fanbase performing all over the country. Kid Rock is set to take the Orion Stage on Saturday, May 3rd at 10:35 PM.
12) Bootsy Collins (Sunday, FedEx Stage, 7:00 p.m.)
Sampled by many in hip hop including 2Pac, William Earl “Bootsy” Collins is a funk legend that rose to fame with James Brown in the early 70’s then later with the Parliament-Funkadelic. Inducted into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, you don’t want to miss this funk and R&B legend on Sunday, May 4th at 7:00PM.
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