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Playlist: Prepare yourself for Afropunk Fest London
Listen to some of the distinctive artists confirmed for the unique event.
Afropunk Festival began life in 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, emerging from a movement kickstarted by the Matthew Morgan produced documentary of the same name. Following Black Punks in America, the documentary, and subsequently the movement, looked to give a voice to multicultural peoples, merging the worlds of punk, indie, hardcore and hip-hop.
The original festival brought together music, film, skate and art, deliberately designed to centre around the power of people, and celebrating culture. It has since grown, spreading around the world to the likes of Paris, Johannesburg, Atlanta and London.
The UK event welcomes a variety of bands and urban sounds, bringing the unique live cultural spectacular to the suitably individual Printworks venue. Still housing the old printing press, the space offers a maze of event spaces and corridors, as distinctive as the show itself.
Afropunk will be bringing the inclusive, celebratory event to London from the 22 – 23 July 2017. To prepare, we’ve pulled together tracks by a handful of the innovative and exciting bands set to bring their distinctive blend of music to the capital.
The Internet – Get Away
Headlining the Saturday, The Internet sees occasional solo artist and former Odd Future member Syd take on front-person duties. Get Away originally appeared on the band’s Ego Death album, released in 2015.
Lianne La Havas – Green & Gold
British born singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lianne La Havas arrives at Afropunk to headline the Sunday with her substantial homegrown talent. Green & Gold is taken from her most recent full-length release, 2015’s Blood.
Little Simz – Picture Perfect
Rapidly rising British rapper Little Simz shot onto the urban scene with 2015’s A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons, swiftly followed by last year’s Stillness In Wonderland. She recently unveiled the video for Picture Perfect, taken from her most recent album.
Danny Brown – Ain’t It Funny
With his distinctive style, often borrowing from outside of the more typical hip-hop genre, Danny Brown has been celebrated for last year’s Atrocity Exhibition. Earlier this year, he revealed the Jonah Hill directed video for album standout, Ain’t It Funny.
Petite Noir – Best
South African native Petite Noir blends soul, hip-hop and traditional sounds, as well as glam-inspired vocals and music more associated with the indie genre. Best is taken from his debut album, La vie est belle / Life Is Beautiful.
The Bots – Blinded
In keeping with the festival’s mantra of blending musical styles and crossing cultural boundaries, The Bots bring their soulful rock to London on the Saturday.
Jme – Man Don’t Care
Injecting some grime into Afropunk proceedings, Jme will take to the stage ahead of The Internet on the Saturday. He teamed up with Giggs for the anthemic Man Don’t Care.
Mahalia – Begin Again
Leicester based Mahalia describes her sound as psycho acoustic style. It’s destined to add a more stripped back vibe to Sunday’s proceedings, ahead of the likes of Willow Smith, Nao and Lianne La Havas.
Nao – Girlfriend
London’s Nao has made a name for herself with a distinctive blend of neo-soul with a funk edge. It’s often sulty, such as on recent single Girlfriend.
Thundercat – Them Changes
A serial collaborator, Thundercat (real name Stephen Bruner) is widely recognized as one of the driving forces behind Kendrick Lamar’s highly influencial To Pimp A Butterfly. He’s also released three solo albums, most recently dropping 2017’s Drunk.
And that’s just scratching the surface. Here’s the full list of artists taking to Afropunk over the two days:
Saturday 22 July 2017
The Internet | Jme | Thundercat | Danny Brown | The Heavy | Little Simz | Saul Williams | Corinne Bailey Ray | Jazzie B | Kojey Radical | Nadia Rose | Liam Bailey | The Bots | The OBGMs
Sunday 23 July 2017
Lianne La Havas | Nao | Willow Smith | Petite Noir | Mahalia | Sate | Connie Constance | Kiah Victoria | Black Orchid
Plus sounds across the weekend by:
gal-dem | Blacktronica | Clara Amfo | Hannah Faith | Jamz Supernova | Jazz Refreshed | Fam | Born n Bread
Day and weekend tickets are available now through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
