Lauryn Hill, Nas headlining Rock The Bells roving hip-hop festival

Lauryn Hill

Credit: AP Photo

Lauryn Hill, Nas, Black Star, Erykah Badu, Cypress Hill, Wu-Tang's Raekwon and Ghostface and more are all slated to head up the 2011 Rock The Bells bill this year, with stops at two major cities on each coast.

The roving hip-hop festival will make stops Aug. 20 at the San Manuel Amphitheater in Los Angeles, Aug. 27 at Shoreline Amphitheater in San Francisco, Sept. 3 at Governor's Island in New York and Sept. 10 in Boston, locale TBA.

As is the tradition with Rock The Bells, some headliners will be playing some of their seminal albums back to front. Hill will be tackling "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill" and Nas is performing "Illmatic," with the help of special guests AZ, Pete Rock and DJ Premier. Talib Kweli and Mos Def are recombining as Black Star, and Cypress Hill will be pushing "Black Sunday."

Badu is on for only select dates; fans can expect "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" tracks from Raekwon and Ghostface Killah. A full list of performers/performances is below, with more artists to be added.

Pre-sale goes up on June 3, with regular onsale starting the next day. Check rockthebells.com for more date-by-date details.

Rock The Bells is among the 30 largest U.S. festivals coming this summer; check out a rundown of others like Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Essence and more.

Artists confirmed for the ROCK THE BELLS 2011 FESTIVAL SERIES include:

Ms. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill +
Nas – Illmatic +
Cypress Hill - Black Sunday +
Erykah Badu*
Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star +
Raekwon & Ghostface - Only Built for Cuban Linx +
Mobb Deep - The Infamous +
The GZA - Liquid Swords +
Immortal Technique
Slaughterhouse
Mac Miller*
Curren$y*
Souls of Mischief - 93 ‘til Infinity +
Black Moon
Childish Gambino
Blu & Exile
Fashawn
Random Axe*
Masta Killah - No Said Date +
Evidence*
Macklemore*
Freddie Gibbs
Roc Marciano
 
+ notes full-album sets
* notes performance on select dates only

 

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

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After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.