Summer Jam—which has become a rite of passage for hip hop artists since it started in the late 80s—is back on June 12 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. On Friday, Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning show took to the airwaves to make the announcement. The host, along with Peter Rosenberg and Laura Stylez, revealed the highly anticipated lineup which includes: Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Roddy Ricch, City Girls, Young Thug, DreamDoll, Gunna, Cordae and NLE Choppa.
Pusha T will also be headlining the festival. His fourth studio album, It’s Almost Dry, which was released last month, was the first of his solo projects to hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Burna Boy, who made history this past weekend as the first Nigerian artist to headline (and sell out) Madison Square Garden, will also be performing at the show.
Over the years, Summer Jam has become known as the place rappers went to address (and often magnify) beefs. The most notorious moment in the concert’s history happened in 2001 when the tension between Jay Z and Prodigy of Mobb Deep finally came to a head. During his performance of “Takeover,” he recited this line directed the emcee:
“When I was pushing weight back in ‘88, you was a ballerina/I got the pictures, I seen ya.” Then an image of a young Prodigy was projected on that infamous Summer Jam screen, where he could be seen in dance garb, white socks and a pair of tap shoes. After finishing the song, Jay came for Nas directly by declaring “he don’t want it with Hov.”
This perhaps set off one of the biggest feuds ever seen in hip hop. Jay then ended his performance by bringing out Michael Jackson??? It’s safe to say nothing of that magnitude will go down at this year’s concert, but with that many personalities at the stadium something is bound to happen.