Juvenile stopped by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series to give them a taste of New Orleans’ musical gumbo, but this weekend’s Essense Festival is where you go for a whole serving of what the Crescent City has to offer. With R&B fixtures such as Ari Lennox will grace the Caesars Superdome stage, this year’s three-day live performances will heavily pay tribute to 50 years in hip-hop.
To celebrate the monumental moment for the genre, Essence will feature performances by the “Back That Azz Up” rapper, Megan Thee Stallion, Missy Elliott, and more. Here is the Essence Festival performance schedule for 2023.
Today (June 30), Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts star Tobe Nwigwe, Ari Lennox, Juvenile, Jagged Edge, Janelle Monáe, and Ms. Lauryn Hill will perform. The hip-hop tribute set will feature Doug E Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, KRS-One, and Slick Rick.
Tomorrow (July 1), BET’s Best New Artist, Coco Jones, Monica, Jill Scott, Missy Elliott, Ice Cube, E-40, Ice-T, Lady Of Rage, and Yo-Yo will perform. The hip-hop tribute set will feature Jermaine Dupri, Big Boi, Gucci Mane, Lil Jon, Ludacris, and T.I. on Saturday.
Closing out the festival on Sunday (July 2), Muni Long, Tems, Wizkid, and Megan Thee Stallion will perform. The hip-hop tribute will feature Angie Martinez, Eve, Mia X, Remy Ma, Salt-N-Pepa, and Trina.
Essence Festival 2023 will take place at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, between June 30 and July 2. Find more information here.
Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.