Here Comes Yasiin Bey (A.K.A. Mos Def)

Photo via Associated Press

Nas and LL Cool J got their time in the spotlight. Now it’s Mos Def—sorry—Yasiin Bey’s turn to take the stage.

Last May, “Together Boston” brought eight-days worth of bands and performances to the area for a “celebration of music, art, and technology,” and this year’s fifth annual gathering promises to be just as entertaining.

Through a partnership with the Wilbur Theatre, Together Boston organizers announced that Yasiin Bey, a.k.a Mos Def, the “titan of conscious hip-hop,” will be performing in the city on May 15, with vintage microphone in hand.

Mos Def changed his moniker back in 2012, confusing his followers (and rap sidekick Talib Kweli)—but people still refer to him by the name he used to reap rapping fame. “Mos Def is a landmark in Together Boston’s history—a true headliner and a true legend of hip-hop music. In keeping with the festival’s theme of music, art, and technology, he is clearly a musician, lyricist, and composer,” organizers said in an announcement dropped on Friday.

The Together Festival attracts roughly 20,000 people each year who can pick and choose between a multitude of arts and music events going on in Cambridge and Boston over the course of more than a week. The event includes panel discussions and movie screenings, too.

Managing Director and booking coordinator of Together Boston’s event, Alex Maniatis, said he couldn’t be happier with the news that Mos Def was locked in to perform as a headliner for the 2014 festival. “As we’ve expanded over the years, hip-hop culture has played a larger and larger role, in addition to other new musical forms. The Wilbur has been instrumental in maintaining our relationship within the realm,” he said.

Citing his activism, skills as an emcee, and prominent roles as an actor in films and television shows, Together Boston’s creative director, David Day, said he looks forward to seeing the “icon for our times” show up to spit rhymes.

Tickets are on sale now through the Wilbur Theatre, and admission to the show is also included as part of the Together Boston passes available for the May series. The first wave of the rest of the line-up for the festival can be found here.