Rock by LL COOL J Just in time for the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop, the Bells festival is back this year, and Native Tongues stalwarts like De La Soul, the Jungle Brothers, and more will be present to celebrate.
With just over a month until the yearly festival, which will take place on August 5 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York, LL added some big names to the program this week. The Native Tongues event will also feature Queen Latifah, Monie Love, and Black Sheep in addition to the aforementioned performers. LL himself featuring DJ Z-Trip, Brand Nubian, and Lost Boyz have also been added.
The performers join a lineup that already includes previously announced performers such as Salt-N-Pepa, Big Daddy Kane, Method Man & Redman, Swizz Beatz with “SUPER special guests,” Rakim, Slick Rick, and many more.
In 2018, LL COOL J established Rock The Bells with the goal of advancing Hip Hop culture and aesthetics. To remind fans of the origins of the genre, the brand uses content, commerce, goods, and unique events, like the upcoming inaugural festival.
The name is a reference to the 1985 song “Rock the Bells” by LL COOL J, which the rap legend had to reclaim when another corporation had adopted it for its own event in the mid-2000s.
The rapper claimed to have created the group in July of last year since hip hop is not “disposable” and “art/artists don’t have an expiration date.”
In a statement from the previous year, LL COOL J said of the festival, “This festival is my way of showing love to the community of Hip Hop and celebrating the incredible journey this culture has taken, going from DJ Kool Herc’s Sedgwick Avenue rec room to the global phenomenon we all cherish today.”
I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have in store for them. “Getting to bring some of the most iconic and influential Hip-Hop artists to the same stage, in my hometown and the city that started it all, is an honor.”