Sunday, 8 June 2008

Busta Rhymes joins Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution lineup

Rapper Busta Rhymes [ tickets ] has been added to the lineup of Linkin Park [ tickets ]'s upcoming fifth annual Projekt Revolution tour, which is set to hit 24 cities this summer.Besides Rhymes, the tour will include performances by founders Linkin Park as well as Chris Cornell [ tickets ], 10 Years [ tickets ], Armor for Sleep [ tickets ], Ashes Divide [ tickets ], Atreyu [ tickets ], Hawthorne Heights [ tickets ], Street Drum Corps and The Bravery [ tickets ]. The tour kicks off July 16 in Mansfield, MA. Dates are below.Ironically, in an interview with LiveDaily in April, Linkin Park co-frontman Mike Shinoda defended the group's decision to keep rap artists off of the Projekt Revolution roster for the second year in a row."I think maybe in the future we'll have some more hip-hop artists back on the bill, but last year and this year we didn't find the right rap groups to put on the show," Shinoda said. "There weren�t any that we felt would mix well with everything. And I think, for this one, it's pretty much an all-rock bill and there's a ton of variety this year. I think this is a really diverse bill, as far as rock goes."Rhymes--born Trevor Smith, Jr.--is scheduled to drop his eighth studio album on the first day of July. The set, which went through a variety of title changes before Rhymes settled on "Blessed," features the usual hip-hop all-star roster of production talent, including P. Diddy and the Hitmen, Kanye West, Timbaland, RZA and others.Rhymes collaborated with Linkin Park on "We Made It," the album's first single and video. The song was co-produced by Shinoda and New York production team Cool & Dre.Other guest appearances on the set--which was originally scheduled for release last December, but was pushed back to this summer--include Mary J. Blige, Common, Jamie Foxx and Akon.