ComplexCon is getting more and more lit with each announcement. On Wednesday, the pop-culture festival dropped the names of 14 more speakers and performers joining its star-studded roster, including a performance by rapper Juice Wrld and panel discussions with Trap intellectual T.I. and NBA legend Allen Iverson.
Since ComplexCon is making its Chicago debut on July 20-21 weekend, it’s only right that some of the city’s top entertainers and designers participate in the function. Chicago-based rapper Smino will be speaking at ComplexCon along with Chicago streetwear gurus Joe Freshgoods and Don C. It’s unclear if Smino will be performing, too, but Joe Freshgoods is expected to perform — possibly dj a set — during the festival.
Rapper Taylor Bennett and Party Noire DJ Rae Chardonnay are among the list of performers. Others folks on the lineup are rappers Wale, Killer Mike, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, G Eazy and Gunna.
“Many surprises including my own DRFL [Death Race for Love] exhibit/pop up [and] a special performance,” Juice Wrld wrote on his Instagram page. Death Race for Love is the Chicago-area rapper’s second studio album, which debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart in March.
One cool feature of ComplexCon weekend will be “Complex Current” conversations sponsored by NBA2K20. These panel discussions will touch on topics ranging from what it takes to be a self-made creative to the influence of hip-hop on sneaker culture.
Additionally, in the week leading up to the event, ComplexCon will partner with major brands and local community organizations such as Social Works, SaveMoneySaveLife Foundation and Young Chicago Authors for shoe giveaways, a small-scale anti-violence block party and more.
News that ComplexCon, the world’s largest gathering of pop-culture visionaries, would bless Chicago for the first time broke last year. The annual festival draws a crowd of more than 60,000 people in its Long Beach, California home.