Festival AFROPUNK recently announced their lineup for this year’s AFROPUNK Brooklyn 2023 event.
Set for Aug. 26 to Aug. 27 at the Greenpoint Terminal Market, R&B singer-songwriter Jazmine Sullivan is scheduled to make her debut at AFROPUNK as a headliner. Serving as co-headliner, artist Flying Lotus will take to the stage with his light show; previously, the producer helped headline the festival alongside performers such as Janelle Monae in 2016.
Along with the headliners, this year’s AFROPUNK festival will feature sets by a variety of musicians, including Joey Bada$$, Vince Staples, Baby Tate, Madison McFerrin and Sudan Archives. This year’s festival will also take on a new theme, known as the “Circus of Soul,” AFROPUNK’s concept will revolve around a carnival-inspired theme that highlights Black creativity.
“AFROPUNK is more than just an event, it’s a celebration of life, music, food, and culture in the Black community,” said the organizers in an official press statement. “AFROPUNK has established a legacy as a safe space for Black alternative culture, offering a haven for attendees to show up as their most authentic selves. The end result of which is always a stunning community of people who respect, admire, and care for one another.”
Although AFROPUNK holds events across the country in places such as Miami and Minneapolis, the festival originated in Brooklyn in 2005. Founded by James Spooner and Matthew Morgan, AFROPUNK stemmed from a short film titled “Afro-Punk.” Released in 2003, the film explored the lives of Black youth in the punk scene across the nation, highlighting the role of Black artists in creating the rock genre.
Originally, the festival revolved around representing Black youth in the punk scene through performances but has since expanded to include artists from all types of genres such as rap, hip-hop, R&B and soul. Also featuring support for vendors to sell their products, AFROPUNK’s focus is on celebrating both Black culture and the community as a whole.
This year’s event marks the second year of the festival’s return. With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, all AFROPUNK events were eventually put on hiatus. The festival officially marked its return to a live audience in 2022, with performances being held in Miami, Bahia, Brazil and Minneapolis.
To celebrate the return to in-person performances, artists like Ari Lennox, The Roots, Freddie Gibbs, Burma Boy, Lucky Daye, Doechii and Isaiah Rashad were included as part of the festival’s lineup.
