All the best rappers are at Bonnaroo this year

In case you didn't get the memo, we've entered a new golden age of hip-hop. Yes, your buddy with the backpack who hasn't bought a new record since Biggie died is going to say otherwise, but this is an amazing time to be a hip-hop fan. The art form has hit a new peak of musical awareness and creative ambition that has turned the whole scene into a state of awesomeness one-upmanship. From the pop charts to the underground, folks are doing crazy wonderful things with what's now popular music's most influential genre, and nowhere is that more evident than at Great Stage Park this year.

Kendrick Lamar is clearly the story of the year — bro went from dude with a mixtape to creating a hip-hop masterpiece in about four years — and we're just going to remind you that the Scene said he was headliner material back when he made his first Bonnaroo appearance in 2012. The year before, in 2011, Childish Gambino made his debut on the farm, and that dude went from TV oddity to genuine MC, creating remarkably personal and artful wordplay. It's another example of Bonnaroo knowing what's fresh way before the rest of us. This year the rapper makes his third B-Roo appearance with a prime-time Saturday night slot on The Which Stage.

In terms of things to discover this year, be sure to catch Nashville's main man Mike Floss (the homie formerly known as Open Mic) as he throws down with Atomic Bomb! The Music of William Onyeabor — an all-star tribute to Nigerian electronic music pioneer and all-around mysterious figure William Onyeabor. The Superjam-worthy performance troupe features Pat Mahoney from LCD Soundsytem, Beastie Boys' Money Mark, neo-soul synth-pop whiz Jamie Lidell and soul-fi pop scientist Sinkane. Atomic Bomb! is transcontinental funk-futurism at it's finest and a great example of the global and recombinant nature of hip-hop in the 21st century.

Dej Loaf is the toughest thing in 10 cities, and her Thursday evening set is going to rattle your wigdome something right. If you haven't seen Run the Jewels — the oh-so-dope collab between El-P and Killer Mike — quit being a fuccboi and get to This Tent on Friday night. Be sure to carve out space in your schedule for Shabazz Palaces' Sunday set. Then schedule a couple of hours to piece your brain back together after the Seattle experimentalists blow your mind. That should be enough time to prepare for the hard-funk perfection of Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, which should restore your boom-bap levels to normal after a weekend of adventure and discovery.