Lil' Jon, Common, Clipse, Others Team With Microsoft's Zune

Microsoft continues its push into the trendsetting Hip-Hop market with three "Live at the BBQ" summer concert performances in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, to promote the Zune MP3 player.

Rappers like Mos Def, Common, Lil' Jon, Clipse, Lupe Fiasco, David Banner, UGK, Collie Budz, Joel Ortiz, E-40, Cham, Common and others have been confirmed as performing artists at the concert.

Even the Main Source's Large Professor will be on hand, as the concert's theme is taken from the group's 1991 hit, which featured Akinyele, Fatal and Nas.

"'Live at the BBQ' is helping to bring Hip-Hop back to a golden age where records were produced and iconic artists rose directly out of their local communities," Bun B. said. "It's a chance to put singles, ring tones, and industry hype aside and just get a bunch of our friends together for some great music and BBQ - Let's eat."

In related news, sources told AllHipHop.com that Microsoft is developing a flash based Zune player to compete with the iPod Nano.

The device has been code named Draco and will support WiFi, video playback and will reportedly come in 4GB and 8GB versions, while measuring 3 x 1.25 x 0.25 inches.

More information on how fans can access the concerts will be available at Zune.net in the coming weeks.

Below are the dates for each city:

July 12 - Los Angeles, CA

July 21 - Chicago, IL

August 4 - NY, NY