With the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival just about a week away, anticipation about the epic event is blowing up. The latest news on the upcoming gig tells us that rap superstar Snoop Dogg is slated to take the stage as the keynote speaker for SXSW 2015.

The multi-platinum, award winning lyricist has been in the rap game since the early 1990s and has since released 12 chart-topping albums. The 43-year-old California native has gained recognition as a true hip-hop kingpin and is arguably one of the most legendary rappers involved in the music industry.

In other news, the thuggish ruggish hip hop superstar has a new album slated for release on May 12. Dubbed BUSH, the record was produced by Pharrell and is highly anticipated by his fans. The first single from the album, "Peaches N Cream," was dropped online Tuesday in advance of the official album release.

The SXSW Keynote Conversation with Snoop will be open to all Music and Platinum registrants and will take place on Friday, March 20 at 11:00 a.m. in Ballroom A of the Austin Convention Center.

On the heels of the big Snoop Dogg news, SXSW also confirmed on Tuesday that lyrical superstar Wyclef Jean, originally of Fugees fame, will be speaking at the event as well as taking to the stage to perform.

Wyclef made his way to the front lines of the hip hop scene in the mid-1990s with legendary music trio The Fugees. The group garnered a number of Grammy awards for their musical endeavors, but has since split to pursue solo interests. Wyclef has done well for himself on his own, taking a unique approach to blending different genres of music and collaborating with other insanely successful artists.

The SXSW team has Wyclef lined up to be interviewed about his career by Nick Huff-Barili of Hard Knock TV on Thursday, March 19 in Room 12AB of the conference center. Thursday evening at midnight Wyclef is also slated to do a live performance for hip hop heads at The Gatsby.

Other big names in the rap game will be featured at SXSW this year, among them Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean and Paul Rosenberg of Shady Records.

Event promoters revealed that an interview series conducted by renowned music journalist, blogger, entrepreneur and founder of Rap Radar, Elliott Wilson, will take place in front of a live audience again this year at SXSW 2015.

Wilson is set to interview rapper Big Sean on Wednesday, March 18 at the convention center. It's scheduled to take place at 3:30 p.m. in ACC Room ABC and will also air in two parts on WatchLOUD.com in the days following the festival.

It's also been confirmed that hip hop phenom Wiz Khalifa will be representing at SXSW alongside his equally talented peers. Not only will he be performing two showcases, but Khalifa will also join Rosenberg at the SXSW Music Conference to speak on the relationship between sports and music.

Dubbed "Music in Sports," the conversation will go down on Wednesday, March 18 in room 18ABC of the convention center at 5:00 p.m. The discussion will reportedly focus on musical traditions in sporting events, how teams and athletes use music to get hyped, and the connection between music and sports fans.

Khalifa's musical performances are scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 18 at Yahoo's Brazos Hall and Friday, March 20 at ACL Live.

SXSW fans -- make sure to check back with us at Latin Post in the coming days as we get closer and closer to the highly anticipated annual festival. We will continue to cover upcoming announcements and other news from SXSW promoters as soon as they are made available.

For the latest news & updates, follow reporter Bary Alyssa Johnson on Twitter: @MissBary