American rapper Lil Wayne will make an exclusive UK festival appearance at this summer's Strawberries & Creem in Cambridge.
The five-time Grammy winner has been announced for the music and youth culture festival's return to Childerley Orchard from Friday, June 17 to Sunday, June 19.
After a hiatus of 14 years, Lil Wayne will make his long-awaited UK return for a historic set at his only show in Europe this year.
Hitting the scene at just 12 years old, hip-hop icon Lil Wayne has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide thanks to hits such as Lollipop, A Milli, Mirror and She Will.
Expanded to a full three-day event, the Strawberries & Creem 2022 line-up will also include debut UK festival headline performances from Ella Mai, Mabel and Tems – leading a 60 per cent female line-up across the weekend.
Festival co-founder and booker Preye Crooks said: “This year, as we scale up to a full three days, we wanted to ensure our musical offering matched that level of ambition – as well as reflecting our incredibly diverse crowd.
"We have gone further than ever before to bring exceptional artists together, showing Strawberries & Creem to be a major player on the weekend festival scene.
"As a team, we also wanted to shine a light on some amazing genres and artists that aren't always celebrated in full at other festivals."
R&B singer and songwriter Ella Mai will headline the Friday. Already nominated for Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best R&B Song, Ella Mai will delight crowds with new music off her upcoming new album.
Chart-conquering star Mabel will dazzle festival-goers on the Saturday, while Sunday will see Nigerian singer and upcoming producer Tems close out the festival, bringing with her a unique Afrobeats, R&B and neo-soul style which is redefining the Nigerian music scene.
Joining them in Cambridgeshire is Tion Wayne – whose chart-topping track Body with Russ Millions became the first ever UK number one drill record – and UK grime and rap star Ghetts, who has become one of the few British rappers to achieve Mercury, BRIT and Ivor Novello Award nominations.
More than 100 artists will perform at the festival, including Ms Banks, rapper and singer ENNY, rapper Knucks, Rema, with his genre-transcending Afrobeats pop sound, and veteran DJ and tastemaker David Rodigan.
DJs at dedicated dance music areas will include Wilkinson, Sub Focus, High Contrast and New York sensation Dennis Ferrer.
The Notting Hill Carnival Takeover is also back – bringing all things carnival to Childerley Orchard – and the Girls Can’t DJ x Havana Club stage will feature special guests Katy B and Lisa Maffia, formerly of So Solid Crew.
Preye Crooks added: "We hope we have curated a truly representative and exciting lineup, one that offers an unrivalled experience to our festival goers – covering everything from D&B and dance music, to reggae and R&B.”
Pre-sale tickets are exclusively available to those who register from Monday, February 21 at 10am. You must sign up via the Strawberries & Creem website to access these.
General sale tickets are available to book via Ticketmaster from Tuesday, February 22 at 10am.
Tickets start at £59.50 for the day and £159.50 for the three-day weekend. VIP, hospitality and glamping / camping options are also available, with an expanded on-site campsite area for 2022.
Discounts and a limited number of free tickets are exclusively available for NHS staff and other key workers via Tickets For Good.
Founder and CEO Stephen Rimmer said: “We're absolutely delighted to be partnering with Strawberries & Creem festival again this year to help increase access, inclusion, and wellbeing with free and discounted tickets – giving something back to our hard-working NHS staff, locally and across the UK, and now to key workers too."
Full list of Strawberries & Creem Festival 2022 artists, A-Z:
ALMASS BADAT
ARIES & $PYDA
BELLAH
BUCKFAST BOYS CLUB
CALIBRE
CARDINAL SOUND
CC:DISCO!
CHILDREN OF ZEUS
CROSSY B2B ZORO
CUTTIN’ HEADZ
CVSS
DAVID RODIGAN
DAZED
DENNIS FERRER
DISCO DISCO
DJ SHAXX
DR ROACH
ECLAIR FIFI
EJ KITTO
ELLA MAI
ENNY
FIYAHDREAD
FLAVA D
FLEUR SHORE
GHETTS
GLADE MARIE
GODDARD
HALOGENIX
HARRIET JAXXON
HENRIE & GOLDIE QUAKER (Hosts)
HIGH CONTRAST
HORSE MEAT DISCO
IDEA
ISAAC CARTER
IZZY BOSSY
JANELLE WYNTER
JAY DOLCE
JESS AJOSE
JESSE CALOSSO
JORDSS
JULS
KANINE
KASRA
KATY B
KELVIN 373 B2B SELECTA J-MAN
KENNY ALLSTAR & FRIENDS
KNUCKS
KYRIST
LAURA LEE
LENS
LIL C
LIL WAYNE
LISA MAFFIA (SO SOLID CREW)
MABEL
MARCELINA WICK
MASON COLLECTIVE
MERVELLA
MILLER BLACK
MISTRUST
MS BANKS
NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL TAKEOVER
OH MY ROSH
PARTICLE
PIP MILLET
REMA
SANDRA OMARI
SLIPPED DISC
SOMETHING SOMETHING
STRATEGY & CARTRIDGE: REGENTS VIBE CHEMISTRY
SUB FOCUS (DJ Set)
SUSTANCE
T>I B2B LIMITED B2B SAXXON
TAMERA
TAYLAH ELAINE
TEMS
THE COMPOZERS
THOBURN
TION WAYNE
VOLTAGE (Special guest)
WILKINSON (DJ Set).
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here