.
"This is the 40th Anniversary of Hip-Hop so we as a culture have a lot to celebrate," explains Festival Founder and Executive Director Wes Jackson in a press statement. "The Hip-Hop generation is growing in numbers, influence, and power. We see The Festival as a gathering, a convention if you will, for Hip-Hop. A place old school and new school can get together and build."
And build they will, as legends like EPMD and Redman will be present, along with the purveyor of the new god flow Pusha T. In addition, XXL's Freshman 2013 cover member Dizzy Wright will be on the bill.
"People like to say we are old school and fine I will admit that the historian in me loves the classics," Jackson adds about the lineup. "But what I realized is that canon of classics is growing. Today's new school is tomorrow's old school."
There are bound to be some surprises, as well. At the 7th Annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival Kanye West showed up to the Q-Tip headlined show, so anything can happen this year.