Mary J Blige, Nas, Pharrell and more to headline 2019 Essence Fest (via Channel24Music )
Producers said there also will be a special main stage moment honouring Frankie Beverly for his lifetime contribution to music and special performance highlights spotlighting Mary's My Life Illmatic — seminal albums marking 25-year anniversaries in 2019. Others scheduled to participate are 702, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, Brownstone, El Debarge, Elle Varner, Force MDs, Ginuwine, Jacquees, Mase, Normani, Rakim, Scarface, City Girls and more performers who will be announced later.
"When the ESSENCE Festival was founded 25 years ago, it marked a pivotal moment of vision and reverence — a critical acknowledgement of and investment in the power of our culture," said Michelle Ebanks, chief executive officer of ESSENCE Communications, in a news release. She said it has set a standard that other festivals aspire to, and has become an annual homecoming for black artists from around the world.