NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A country act and hip-hop artist have been announced for the 2024 Azalea Festival, to take place April 3-7.
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T-Pain will take the stage on April 4 and Chase Rice will perform on April 5 at Live Oak Bank Pavilion along the downtown Riverwalk.
Rice, who was raised on a farm in Asheville, North Carolina, has performed in Wilmington for years and often vacations in Wrightsville Beach. When visiting, Rice has been seen hanging out at Jimmy’s, a popular bar near the beach.
After working a stint in NASCAR and then going on the show “Survivor: Nicaragua,” Rice launched a career in the music industry with his 2014 bro-country release, “Ignite the Night,” scaling number one on the country charts.
Rice has released six albums to date, including 2023’s “I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell.” The album set him on a more authentic and thoughtful approach on his musical path, he told Port City Daily last year — writing music that touches on deeper themes about love, the small joys of life and working through hard times.
“That’s what this record is: It’s 10 more years of experience, while also going back to how I started, which was just me and a guitar,” he said, reflecting back to when he started writing music in his dorm room at UNC Chapel Hill.
Before Rice takes the stage, Faheem Rashad Najm, better known as T-Pain, will perform for Wilmington audiences. T-Pain is attributed for popularizing Auto-Tune pitch correction in the hip-hop world, with artists like Kanye West and Snoop Dogg following suit.
T-Pain gained popularity in 2005 with one of his most successful releases, “I’m in Luv (Wit a Stripper),” produced with Mike Jones. That year he also released the debut album, “Rapper Ternt Santa,” which brought with it commercial success.
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His sophomore followup, “Epiphany,” reached the Billboard 200, with albums “Three Ringz” and “Revolver” released thereafter. They included hits and collaborations, such as “Bartender” featuring Akon and “Can’t Believe It” with Lil Wayne.
So far in his career, T-Pain has released two Grammy Award-winning hits, including “Good Life” with Kanye West and “Blame It” with Jamie Foxx. Though, his most successful track has been with Flo Rida, as part of its 2007 debut single “Low.” It has been named third on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade.
T-Pain’s latest effort is 2023’s “On Top of the Covers,” featuring takes on his favorite music, such as Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”
Tickets go on sale to Rice here and T-Pain here on Monday, Dec. 18.
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