Looks like it'll be another action-packed day at Soundset this year. The lineup for Rhymesayers' fifth annual hip-hop festival was just announced with a strong continengent of non-local performers including Chicago's genre-straddling maestro rapper Lupe Fiasco, Wu-Tang Clan vets Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, hot newcomers Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T. and Danny Brown, plus longtime Rhymesayers cohorts Aesop Rock, Evidence and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

They're playing in addition to the usual roster of local perfomers new and old, who will include Atmosphere, P.O.S., I Self Devine, Prof with DJ Fundo, Astronautalis, Villa Rosa (Muja Messiah and Maria Isa), Audio Perm and the Tribe & Big Cats.

The fest returns to its reliable if unremarkable location of the past three years outside Canterbury Park in Shakopee (a city fresh from its correctly pronounced shout-out in the "Saturday Night Live" DJ skit). All the festival details can be had over at the festival's own website or at www.Rhymesayers.com. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 11 a.m. to the general public through www.ticketweb.com and Fifth Element for $38. VIP options are also available.

Ghostface Killah, by the way, already has a gig booked at the Cabooze on April 20 (yes, as in 4/20).

Attendance has steadily risen all four years of Soundset, going back to its inception in 2008 in the Metrodome parking lot. Last year's fest qualified as the biggest hip-hop concert in Minnesota music history, with 20,000 fans turning out for an out-of-town contingent that included Big Boi (who gave a one-of-a-kind pre-fest interview), De La Soul, the Slaughterhouse crew and Curren$y.

Interestingly, Soundset vet Brother Ali is down to host but not perform his own slot this year, despite having a new record due out soon on Rhymesayers (as do I Self Devine and P.O.S.). Also conspicuously missing is an official all-crew slot by Doomtree. That means there could finally be a hip-hop act at Rock the Garden a month later (RTG's organizers say they always lose viable rappers to Soundset's contractual obligations; a Doomtree set at the Walker Art Center bash this summer is otherwise a no-brainer).

Hands up for who's returning to Soundset 2012? Brother Ali certainly is. / Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune

Here's the full list of who's performing at Soundset 2012:

Atmosphere, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon, Kendrick Lamar, Aesop Rock, P.O.S, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Danny Brown, Big K.R.I.T, Evidence, Prof with DJ Fundo, Action Bronson, DJ Premier, I Self Devine, Astronautalis, Bambu, J-Zone (DJ set), Medusa, Chief Kamachi, Grynch, Chuuwee, Paten Locke and Willie Evans Jr. are DUMBTRON, Villa Rosa (Muja Messiah & Maria Isa), The Tribe & Big Cats, Audio Perm, Long Doe (Tony Bones, Big Wiz & Mike The Martyr), Auddio Draggon (Gene Poole & Xilam Balam), Tomorrow's Genius, BdotCroc, DJ Stage One, DJ Kool AKIEM, LAST WORD, Kid Cut Up, Superbrush427, DIVINCI (of Solillaquists of Sound), Los Boogie. Hosted by Brother Ali, MaLLy and J Pratt.