2026 Festival

The Lineup

Legends of the genre alongside the artists carrying Lowell and the 978 right now.

Spotify Playlist

Hear the artists

We put together a playlist with tracks from the 2026 lineup. Give it a listen before the festival.

Open on Spotify

Headliners

Kick-off Concert · Saturday, October 10 · Taffeta Music Hall

90s Hip-Hop Legends

Jungle Brothers

Mike Gee and Afrika Baby Bam pioneered the fusion of jazz, house, and hip-hop, and their 1988 debut Straight Out the Jungle is an all-time classic. The JBeez co-founded the Native Tongues, the collective that includes De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Queen Latifah and Black Sheep. Nearly forty years in, they still tour on the strength of a live show built on the culture's actual roots, which is exactly why they open a festival built around the four elements for every generation.

Instagram YouTube Official Website

Local 978 Legend

Termanology

Termanology is a rapper and producer from Lawrence whose 2008 album Politics as Usual featured production from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and the Alchemist, and he's followed it up with collaborative albums alongside Paul Wall, Statik Selektah, Myster DL, and more. He now has more than 60 projects out and counting. He currently resides in Lowell and regularly records at Lowell's own Wonka Sound. He is the proof the 978 has been and is continuing to produce world-class MCs.

Instagram YouTube Bandcamp

Featured Artists

Kick-off Concert · Saturday, October 10 · Taffeta Music Hall

Poppy Pyonn

A Burmese rapper and Berklee student with close to 200,000 followers on TikTok, releasing singles steadily since 2020 and rhyming in the city that has been a landing place for Southeast Asian families for forty years. Lowell already knows that blend on the mic. Poppy is what it sounds like now.

Instagram Meet Poppy at Berklee Apple Music

Special Guest

TDI Muzik

TDI Muzik comes to Lowell from New York with a direct connection to Jungle Brothers. He appears on “Make the Party Rock” from their 2026 Concrete Jungle EP and joined them at Bastid's BBQ at New York's Seaport this August. For the Kick-off Concert, he joins the Featured Artists bill as a Special Guest.

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Local Artists

Kick-off Concert · Saturday, October 10 · Taffeta Music Hall

Collective

Mill City Madness

A Lowell scream-rap and scenecore collective built around the voices of Stardust World, Rottenegg, and Hazel Adeline. Their queer-friendly, defiant live shows and monthly themed events have made them a fixture of the Greater Lowell and Boston rap and rave scenes — proof the culture is still growing new branches in this city.

Mill City Madness on Instagram Stardust World on Instagram Rottenegg on Instagram Hazel Adeline on Instagram Hazel Adeline on Bandcamp

MC / Vocalist

Malissa Lach

A Lowell MC, poet and vocalist who moves between stages across genres and audiences, from the Southeast Asian Water Festival to a featured poet slot at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac.

Instagram

CabbHoppa1

A muralist and hip-hop culture advocate who works from a deep knowledge of where the culture came from, connecting art to the communities it lives in. He's also leading Urban Inspirational Metaphysics: Hip-Hop 101 at The Hive on the 17th.

Instagram

Chi Tashi

Fish Scale Baby put Chi Tashi at the front of Lowell's current wave, a hip-hop artist with the range to sing the hook and then bury you on the verse.

Instagram SoundCloud Read the Interview

SoloArtist

A Lowell native building a catalog on his own terms and a steady presence in the local scene, the kind of independent grind this festival was built to put in front of a bigger room.

Instagram Read the GBH Feature

Ape the Grim

A New Hampshire b-boy, graffiti writer, battler and MC with records featuring Kool Keith, Mr. Lif, Reks, Termanology, and many more. He is a one-man argument for the four-element framing this festival is built on.

Instagram Bandcamp

DJs

Kick-off Concert · Saturday, October 10 · Taffeta Music Hall

DJ & Host

Elmstreet

Elmstreet, real name Elmer Martinez, is a Lowell native who joins the Kick-off Concert as a DJ and host, then returns to host Mill City Get Down on October 18.

Instagram Read the Lowell Sun feature

DJ & B-boy

DJ KingX

DJ KingX is a DJ and b-boy representing Lawtown Assassins. His break tapes are made for the cypher, including the latest installment, Strictly Cyphers 3, released in May 2026. He joins the Kick-off Concert behind the decks and returns as the breaking DJ for Mill City Get Down on October 18.

Instagram SoundCloud Strictly Cyphers 3 Read the Feature

Thursday, October 15 · 8:00 PM · Warp & Weft

DJ Myth

DJ Myth is a Manchester, New Hampshire turntablist and a co-founding force behind Rap Night Manchester, the state's longest-running hip-hop residency at the Shaskeen Pub. Alongside Eyenine, he helped build the weekly night into a cornerstone of the Granite State hip-hop scene, with MC cyphers and showcases for regional and national touring artists. He also marked hip-hop's 50th anniversary with “Without Me,” produced by and featuring Boston hip-hop veteran Edo G. He often performs with Fee & The Evolutionists.

Instagram Read the Concord Monitor feature

Saturday, October 17 · 8:00 PM · Warp & Weft

Fee & The Evolutionists

Live Band

Fee & The Evolutionists

A live soul and hip-hop band fronted by Fee, an MC with a golden-era flow, and Ruby Shabazz, whose vocals come straight out of classic R&B, backed by some of the most accomplished musicians in New England. Fee was part of the classic Lowell hip-hop group X-Caliber and he co-wrote and rapped on "One Hit to the Body" with D-Tension, the song Micky Ward walked out to for the first Gatti fight.

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Sunday, October 18 · 1:00 PM · Tescobar Performance Center