Kendrick Lamar is going to have a pretty busy spring/summer. The Compton rapper has recently been announced as one of the headliners for the 2015 Essence Music Festival. The festival takes place in NOLA and headlining alongside K-Dot will be Mary J. Blige.

“From first-time Festival performer Kendrick Lamar to return appearances from fan favorites like Kevin Hart, Common and Mary J. Blige, the ESSENCE Festival offers the definitive entertainment and cultural experience for our passionate ESSENCE community every Fourth of July weekend,” said  Essence President Michelle Ebanks.

Other performers will include Erykah Badu, Elle Varner, India Arie, SZA, Mystikal, and many more. Check out the full list of first-round performers here. More artists will be announced soon.

Catch Kendrick at the Sasquatch Festival this May, where he will be headlining alongside Run The Jewels, Action Bronson, ScHoolboy Q and more. "The Blacker The Berry" rapper will also be heading to London right after performing in NOLA for the 2015 Wireless Festival, where he will be co-headlining with Drake and Nicki Minaj. A cool tidbit of information was shared by Terrace Martin while speaking with NPR earlier this month. The L.A. producer revealed that Kendrick’s untitled song they performed on The Colbert Report alongside Thundercat back in December was created the day before they appeared on the show.

Pulitzer-winning author Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & ClayWonder Boys) annotated Kendrick Lamar’s “The Blacker the Berry” lyrics. The line Chabon annotated said, “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street?/When gang banging make me kill a nigga blacker than me/Hypocrite!” Assassin—the dancehall artist featured on song—talked to XXL on just how he got on the record.

[Essence]

Related: Assassin Breaks Down Kendrick Lamar's "The Blacker The Berry"
Pulitzer -Winning Author Michael Chabon Annotates Kendrick Lamar's "The Blacker The Berry" Lyrics

More From XXL