Road Work: Lil Wayne, Rock The Bells, III Points, Pulp
** Lil Wayne sure seems hard to pin down, especially if you read about the travails required to finalize his recent Rolling Stone cover story. However, his whereabouts on June 6 have now been confirmed as part of his first headlining show ever at New York’s Madison Square Garden, which goes down the same day the rapper’s long-awaited Tha Carter IV is released by Young Money/Republic. That album purportedly includes guest appearances by everyone from U2‘s Bono and Andrea Bocelli to Miley Cyrus and Machine Gun Kelly.
** The LL Cool J-reared Rock the Bells festival will touch down June 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with a lineup stacked with hip-hop heavyweights.
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It includes Busta Rhymes, Redman, Eric B. & Rakim, Remy Ma, Too $hort, Scarface, Plies, Boosie, Fabolous and Lil’ Mo, alongside hostess Roxanne Shante and DJ Kid Capri. In addition, Al B. Sure!, Donell Jones, CL Smooth and Soul for Real will be on hand for a celebration of Uptown Records, curated by DJ Eddie F.
“We’re celebrating the artists who built the foundation and the new voices pushing it forward, all in one night,” LL enthuses. “This is hip-hop in its full glory — past, present and future.”
** Miami’s III Points festival has begun portioning out its 11th annual lineup ahead of its Oct. 17-18 return to Mana Wynwood. Artists confirmed so far include Darkside, Peggy Gou, Turnstile, Denzel Curry, mk.gee, Sean Paul, 2hollis, L’Impératrice, Nina Kraviz and Barry Can’t Swim.
“It is not easy navigating a forward-thinking, multi-genre festival in the North American music landscape nowadays, but I believe our commitment to our Miami music community has been the guiding force for us,” says event co-founder David Sinopoli.
** Pulp will celebrate their first album in 24 years with a fall North American tour, beginning Sept. 4 in Atlanta. The Jarvis Cocker-led U.K. group will also visit Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Minneapolis and Denver before previously announced Sept. 25-26 double-bills with LCD Soundsystem at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Visit this link for tickets.
More will be released June 6 through Rough Trade; first single “Spike Island” is out now. As for the upcoming shows, Cocker says, “if you thought last fall was good, wait for this one! You deserve more, and we’ve got More. More than you could imagine…”
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
