A First Look At ESSENCE Festival 2018 Performers

Rachaell Davis Jan, 25, 2018

The 2018 ESSENCE Festival is bringing you the ultimate line up of performances to make your unique summer excursion with your squad one to remember!

Taking place July 5-8 in New Orleans, LA, we’re excited to reveal the first round of performers who will be hitting the stage during ESSENCE Fest weekend —your ultimate ticket to 3 nights of unforgettable performances from over 40 of the biggest names in music.

ESSENCE Festival 2018 ticket packages are on sale now! For more info and the latest news, visit our Festival page HERE.

Entertainment icons Janet Jackson and Mary J. Blige will headline the weekend, in addition to Erykah Badu and Jill Scott along with Snoop Dogg and more in a special curation by Grammy-Award winning Hop Hop band The Roots. Ticketholders can also look forward to performances from an array of R&B’s finest including Fantasia, Miguel, Kelly Price, Marsha Ambrosius and Dave Hollister, as well as a host of today’s most innovative new voices including H.E.R., Daniel Ceasar, Kelela, DVSN, and many more.

We’ll also celebrate some of the groups who dominated one of the most influential eras of soul music. Xscape and 112 will remind us all why they will forever remain at the top of our playlists, while super producer Teddy Riley will lead an ode to classic R&B and Hip Hop featuring performances from Blackstreet, Guy and Wreckx-n-Effect.

D-Nice will also make his first appearance as the Mainstage DJ, joining returning mainstage host Roy Wood, Jr. of The Daily Show. For the first time ever, the evening lineup will also include a unique DJ-curated experience in one of our Superlounges, where actor and musician Idris Elba, and MC Lyte will get the crowd energized from the turntables. Also for the first time, we’re excited to welcome an interactive podcast and music experience with Kid Fury and Crissle of The Read hosting a Superlounge.

Additional acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Be sure to visit our official 2018 Festival webpage HERE for information on tickets, updates to the lineup and more. Click HERE to see a full list of performers who have been announced so far.

See you in NOLA!