Hip-hop luminary Nas will headline the 12th incarnation of the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 16, organizers announced on Monday.
Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, and Busta Rhymes have all graced the hallowed stage in the past, but the fest’s founder says the “Illmatic” rapper is one big name he has been trying to hook for years.
“Nas was one of the last legends of the game we wanted to get,” said the festival’s director Wes Jackson. “Been after that brother for six years!”
Nas will join Bedford-Stuyvesant’s own Fabolous — best known for hits such as “You Can’t Deny It” and “You Be Killin’ Em” — along with Talib Kweli, Rapsody, and DJ Rob Swift.
But the fest is famous for the big-name surprise guests who show up to rock the mic on the night — Kanye West, J.Cole, and Foxy Brown have all appeared unannounced in previous years.
The star-studded bill of emcees will take over a stage directly under the Brooklyn Bridge and inside St. Ann’s Warehouse, returning to Kings County’s Front Yard for the first time since 2011 after several years on the Williamsburg waterfront.
In the days leading up to the wordplay extravaganza, there will also be hip-hop workshops, panels, art installations, dance battles, and a sneaker exhibit at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights.
Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival at Brooklyn Bridge Park [45 Water St. at Old Dock Street in Dumbo, www.bkhip
