A new festival is on the way for rap lovers. On Thursday, the Smoker’s Club announced the return of its hip-hop festival with Kid Cudi, A$AP Rocky, and Playboi Carti as the April 30 musical event’s headliners.
The Smoker’s Club Fest, set to be hosted at the Glen Helen Amphitheater in San Bernardino, will also see the likes of Schoolboy Q, Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz, Ferg, Joey Bada$$, Flatbush Zombies, Dom Kennedy, Yung Lean, Lupe Fiasco, Rico Nasty, and Wale, among others.
“WE’RE BACK,” the music festival wrote alongside its tour poster and stacked lineup. Tickets for the festival go on sale Monday, Jan. 24, and start at $223, while VIP entry for the music event costs $409. The event will be hosted by the Smoker’s Club founder Shiest Bubz.
The 2021 iteration sees the return of many of the same artists featured on the 2018 lineup, which saw Khalifa, Cudi, and Schoolboy Q as headliners. Hosted on April 28 and 29 in Long Beach that year, the lineup featured artists such as Isaiah Rashad, Ty Dolla $ign, Dom Kennedy, Lil Skies, and the late Mac Miller.
During Rolling Loud last December, Cudi teased a new album in the works. “I have Entergalactic coming in the summer, and I wanna drop another album before that,” he told the crowd. “I got some tasty surprises and I’m really excited about all this new shit, this new music, to give to you guys.”
10cc drummer Paul Burgess has announced that he is leaving the band because the demands of touring have become too much for him.
The 75-year-old musician, who also spent time performing with Jethro Tull, Camel, Magna Carta, and The Icicle Works, has chosen to walk away from the legendary rock group after more than five decades.
He shared: “After so many wonderful years with 10cc, I must admit that the rigours of touring are no longer manageable for me as I get older, and I feel it’s time to let go of the long hours in airports and endless travel on buses.
“I’m not planning to stop playing altogether. I will still perform but at a pace that feels right, working alongside old friends and a new group of fellow musicians called The Guilty Men.”
Frontman Graham Gouldman confessed that it will feel unusual to perform without his “longest-running musical associate.”
He explained: “When Paul and I first joined forces in 10cc, we never could have imagined that we’d still be at it after 30 years, let alone 52.
“Paul has been my longest musical partner and it will feel different to turn around and see another drummer, but I completely understand why he no longer wants to sit on a plane for 14 hours or wake up in a new hotel every day for weeks at a time.”
Ben Stone, who has previously played with Mike and The Mechanics and Bonnie Tyler, will be taking over on drums.
Paul, who had several runs with 10cc after joining in 1973, performed his final show with the I’m Not In Love band in Alexandria, Virginia this past September.
The group is set to continue their And Another Bloody Greatest Hits Tour in the UK next year.
