RJD2 headlines Ybor’s Plan B Block Party in September

Fall can’t come soon enough with its appealing concerts lineup, but we’ll be getting into that a little more in-depth in an upcoming issue at the end of this month, so keep an eye out. For now, who’s ready to geek about Plan B Block Party’s big announcement yesterday that the Tampa music festival booked genius Philly producer RJD2 as this year’s headliner for the event, which takes place 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26. (RSVP here!)

RJD2 started out making these engrossing hip-hop collages that made music nerds spazz by coming out of left field, seemingly, with that spunk, finesse and originality hip-hop heads are always thirsty for. His 2002 album Dead Ringer is absolutely essential listening and probably will be forever. He eventually went on to flex his skills in the pop world, then started his own label, which might’ve alienated surface fans but only charged up early fans by seeing the master return to form by manipulating samples into hypnotic instrumentals. This was also when the soulful side of RJD2 came to the forefront, and we’ve seen that vibe continue on his 2013 release and this year’s STS x RJD2. If you haven’t heard the new record yet, get on it:

This is not to ignore the rest of the lineup, which is stellar and dotted with hyper-cool support like Plastic Pinks, Hank & Cupcakes, and COEDS, plus regional and local acts we adore like Set & Setting, Sunbears!, The Sh-Booms, the Woolly Bushmen, MREnc, DieAlps!, and Me Chinese.

This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2015.