Beanie Sigel to perform at Baltimore AFRAM Festival alongside "State Property" group

BALTIMORE - Baltimore's AFRAM Festival is around the corner, and thousands are expected to visit Druid Hill Park for a star-studded line-up on two stages. 

This includes rapper and artist Beanie Sigel.

You might've heard some of his hits including "Feel it in the Air" and "Think it's a Game" featuring Jay-Z, Freeway and Lil' Chris. 

Dwight Grant, better known by his stage name "Beanie Sigel" is set to perform at AFRAM  on Sunday. 

"South Philly all over. SP in the building," said rapper and artist Dwight 'Beanie Sigel' Grant.

The festival will be a reunion of sorts for Sigel– —who's known in both the hip-hop collective and 2002 film titled "State Property". 

"My music is a reflection of my life experiences, experiences of others around me," said Sigel.

Beanie is on the AFRAM lineup with familiar names from the group like Peedi and Young Gunz. 

Sigel signed to Roc-A-Fella Records in 1998 and became a flagship artist. It was then he entered the music industry full time and worked with big names like rapper and artist Jay-Z, Eve, and the 2024 AFRAM headliner Busta Rhymes. 

"I have a lot of influence from Busta as far as my stage performance, you know, giving the crowd a show," said Sigel. "He always encouraged me before I even dropped an album."

The South Philadelphia born and bred artist sat down with WJZ Friday afternoon to share how his visit to Baltimore goes beyond the stage. 

"Even riding through Baltimore it looks so much like Philadelphia I feel at home," said Sigel. 

Sigel is teaming up with the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement's (MONSE) Reentry Beyond the Wall Program. 

"We're trying to take this festival to a whole new height." said Rick Fontaine Leandry, who is an AFRAM planning committee member and a part of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.

Together they joined Baltimore native and author Dwight 'D' Watkins by visiting a prison on Friday morning to speak with inmates. 

"I have been on the other side, on the other side, in the side of prison," explained Sigel. "Having a support system that can help them will not return back into that environment."

"When Beanie Sigel came out we felt like – wow! You know about the streets, you know because he's talking about some of the things in a smart and aggressive perspective —in a way that spoke directly to that experience," Dwight Watkins explained to WJZ  "Just the power in which a person like Beans tells stories. Gives me that same energy when I'm telling a story."

Sigel says no matter a person's circumstance, he knows music and hip-hop can connect and inspire people. 

"I can't wait to hopefully put on a great show and hopefully we can keep this going."

State Property – Beanie Sigel,  Young Gunz, Peedi and more will all take the stage Sunday at AFRAM.

They will perform at 4:00p on the Roots and Family Stage.