Ce-le-brate hip hop, come on!

The three-day 4th Annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop begins at 4:00 p.m. today at First Avenue, and we'll be there for every minute (here's a preview in City Pages). Below you'll find a complete schedule with links, but before you read, check out some of the cool articles on the event, starting with Chris Riemenschneider's Slick Rick interview in today's Star Tribune (plus his rundown on the festival) and this week's Pulse cover story, which features an interview with T3 of Slum Village, an interview with I Self Devine...

...and an editorial by festival organizer Toki Wright. Besides this nod in the Pioneer Press, the festival has also gotten a slew of mentions in the national press. Anyway, down to business.

4TH ANNUAL TWIN CITIES CELEBRATION OF HIP HOP SCHEDULE

FRIDAY Slum Village headlines, with Interlock All Stars, Guardians of Balance, Big Quarters (the subject of a forthcoming feature in City Pages), Moochy C, Kentucky's Blue Collar Boys, Leroy Smokes, and MC battles beginning at 4:45 p.m., with a panel discussion on "the generation gap" beginning at 4:00 p.m. The show's over at about 11:00 p.m., with an afterparty at Euphoria Nightclub.

SATURDAY I Self Devine of the Rhymesayers headlines, with the Doomtree crew (profiled here last year), deservedly hyped local Christian rapper Knowledge MC, Fiction, Queens transplant Trama Sutra, Purest Form, Brooklyn's 3rd Party, the jazz-R&B group Soulistic, beatbox and b-boy battles between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (with prelimenaries beginning at 4:30--the beatbox battles were a highlight of last year, so come early), Kansas City's Style Network Cru beginning at 5:25 p.m. sharp, and a panel discussion on "street credibility" at 4:00 p.m. Free open-air market starting at 4:00 p.m. Afterparty at Euphoria Nightclub.

SUNDAY Slick Rick headlines, a few hours after starring in a documentary that premieres earlier the same evening at the Twin Cities Black Film Festival. Festival openers are the C.O.R.E., Illuminous 3, Maria Isa, American Dream, Kentucky's Cleazy, gangsta-esque females Heat, Melody Beats, Indigo, DJ and dance battles between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (with preliminaries starting at 4:30 p.m.), Teens Rock the Mic kicking off at 5:25 p.m. sharp, and a panel discussion on "indulgence" at 4:00 p.m. Free open-air market starting at 4:00 p.m. Afterparty at Euphoria Nightclub.