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Sold out Electric Picnic 2018 set to be up there with the best

US rap superstar Kendrick Lamar, 80s trip hop Massive Attack and The Prodigy are the headline acts for this weekend’s Electric Picnic.

Pop’s latest break-out star Dua Lipa and rising stars Sigrid and King Krule are also in the mix along with classic rock acts Garbage and The Kooks for the annual music and arts festival in Stradbally, Co Laois, which kicks off today.

Kendrick Lamar, who has a collaborative relationship with U2, will take to the Main Stage tonight in the wake of the phenomenal success of his most recent album Damn, which awarded him the Pulitzer Prize for music.

Earlier this year, Lamar recruited Bono and the Edge for a thrilling, politically charged medley at the 2018 Grammy Awards.

But there’s no fear of the U2 pair showing up tonight as special guests as the Dublin rockers are playing a show in Berlin tomorrow night.

The Los Angeles natve also appears on hip hop trio N.E.R.D’S first album in seven years, No One Ever Really Dies.

Grammy Award winner Pharell Williams, Chad Hugo and producer Shae Haley are taking to the Main Stage tomorrow night and will no doubt treat fans to a blistering set of hits followed by tracks from their latest offering.

Speaking to The Beat, Hugo said: “I was so grateful to have Kendrick Lamar on the NERD album and his animated and futuristic flow was perfect for our track KITES.”

Alongside Lamar’s track, the new album also features the massive hit Lemon, the surprise comeback single from the long-dormant Neptunes side project which features Rihanna.

Asked about making an album again after a seven-year absence, he said: “It’s like we never left because we made it out of genuine friendship and love.”

The top producer admitted he’s looking forward to coming to Ireland, “because it has always been an energetic place to play.”

Other acts not to miss this weekend include St Vincent,

AKA Annie Clark, who returns to Ireland and the EP stage following the release of her album Masseduction last October.

She’s only just turned 23 but Kosovo-born, London-based

Dua Lipa has had a swift rose to the top and owned last summer with her monster hit New Rules.

The talented singer ended 2017 as the most-streamed British female artist on Spotify, having sold 8.5 million singles and 1.5 million albums worldwide and she has also picked up four Brit awards, including best solo female and best album.

Following two sell-out shows at Dublin’s Olympia in early

April, Lipa returns to Ireland to play the Main Stage tomorrow night at 8.45pm before Massive Attack.

On the 20th anniversary of Mezzanine, Massive Attack are taking their iconic trip hop troupe out on the road again.

Fans can expect to hear the sublime Unfinished

Sympathy, Ritual Spirit and Splitting the Atom among others.

Other crowed pleasers include English performer King Krule, AKA Archy Marshall, who will play the Rankin’s Wood stage tomorrow night in support of his second album The Ooz which followed on from his 2013 critically acclaimed debut album 6 Feet Beneath the Moon.

Homegrown heroes that are certainly worth a look include Dublin brooding troubadour Dermot

Kennedy (Saturday, Rankin’s Wood at 5.15pm), rising gems Jafaris (Saturday, Other Voices, 10.30pm), We Cut Corners (Saturday, Heineken Stage, 6pm), Soulé (Sunday, Body & Soul, 10.45pm) and Choice Music Prize-winning SOAK (Saturday, Other Voices, 4.40pm) to name a few.

If you’re looking for something that’s going to rock your socks off then don’t miss experimental hip hop band Death Grips and one of The Beat’s must-see acts of the weekend. Last

June the band released their 10th album in seven years, Year of the

Snitch, which reinforces the group as one of the decade’s most exciting and inventive acts.

Death Grips are the reason for not scooting off early on Sunday night, check them out at 9pm on the Rankin’s Wood Stage.

I promise you won’t regret it.