Before Erykah Badu and Mos Def blessed the Afro-Punk Festival’s green stage with an impromptu collaboration of “Love Of My Life,” New York City councilwoman Letitia James appeared before 10,000 anxious fans with a message: “It’s not about race, it’s not about gender, it’s not about sexuality,” she said. “It’s about Afro-Punk!”
With that verbal acknowledgement, any lingering barriers from the festival’s premiere eight years ago were dismissed — when it was based on a premise of communal celebration for ‘weird, alternative black kids’ who enjoyed punk music.
After last year’s cancellation due to Hurricane Irene, the Afro-Punk Festival returned this year with an evolved identity, catering to a cultural amalgamation of young folks — defined least of all by “afro” or by “punk” but at best, a burgeoning, all-inclusive youth culture of freedom, individuality and acceptance.
“It’s not afro-centric at all,” said Toro Y Moi, self-proclaimed ‘experimental pop’ artist and first-time Afro-Punk performer. “[Afro-Punk] is a celebration of cultures combining and making this one thing. It’s nice to be able to not be boxed in.”
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Lack of labels and judgment were thematic throughout the weekend, exemplified by the performance roster—featuring the likes of Gym Class Heroes, TV On the Radio, Reggie Watts and Spank Rock—and the fashionably expressive Tumblr crowds, largely composed of black hipsters (affectionately called blipsters), skaters, artists, and their friends and families.
“I’m out here to support the movement,” said Nefferarti Davis, a 20-year-old filmmaker who traveled with friends from D.C. to attend the festival. “To be who I want to be, without being judged. It’s beautiful. We’re not conforming, we do what we want.”
Under a melancholy sky, not unlike the one that hung over Brooklyn just before Irene made landfall last year, the festival was anchored by two concert stages featuring concurrent performances throughout the weekend. Also incorporated into the experience were elements of art, family and sports.
A live art wall was set up, on which several artists produced a moving mural over the course of the weekend. There was a skating park, for those festival guests who preferred to spend the majority of their day airborne, competing in Nike’s street skating competition. A biker zone, thrift markets, food trucks and a play area for kids completed the layout of the festival – with any remaining real estate filled by the 20,000+ visitors that would eat, mosh, dance and Instagram their way through the weekend.
The expanding, cross-cultural appeal of AfroPunk was as evident to visitors as it was to the performers. It was one of the reasons Janelle Monáe, Sunday’s headliner, returned to the festival.
“That’s the beautiful thing I love about AfroPunk—not only is it about […] people of color—but it’s very inviting,” she said. “It’s like that hippie mentality—as long as it’s love and peace, do you, and you can be a part of this.”
Monáe is testament to the festival’s evolution — being a successful product of the movement herself. Since performing at Afro-Punk in 2008 as a relatively unknown artist, Monáe has hit it big, signing a major record-deal with BadBoy/Atlantic Records and recently becoming a CoverGirl spokeswoman, joining the ranks of black iconic celebrities Queen Latifah and Halle Berry.
“I will forever consider Afropunk and this movement, this culture, a part of my life,” Monáe said. “It’s mind blowing but every time I think about them, I laugh and I’m like, Afro-Punk made it to Covergirl! With my nappy hair!”
While Janelle – and other AfroPunk alumni, like Santigold – have commercial success and serve as a nod to Afro-Punk’s increasingly cross-cultural mainstream appeal, not everyone is on board with — or even understanding of — its evolution.
Matthew Murray, a concert co-founder who spends who the better part of the year leading up to the festival working to secure sponsorship, says some people are even still hung up on the event’s name.
“Everybody, particularly people of color, they… hear ‘punk and they reject it immediately,” Murray said. On the other end of the spectrum, Murray says a major design brand declined to sponsor this year’s festival, saying it was “too urban.”
“It is now a struggle with media, a struggle with black advertising in a way, the dollars are spread out, and how we’re valued,” Murray said. “Brands should be falling over themselves to help these kids and to work with these kids in ways that help them develop. They’re not. They’re buying into more norm stereotypes.”
Despite opposition from advertisers and and critics who say the festival no longer serves its originally intended audience, black punk rockers, Afro-Punk continues to thrive — largely benefiting from promotion via an online network by the same name. Additionally, Murray and his team manage to score major support from sponsors such as Nike, Vitamin Water and Heineken, which keeps the festival free.
And while Afro-Punk inherently continues to defy cultural norms as it leisurely adapts to youth culture, Murray says there is a deeply-rooted purpose which remains consistent throughout.
“These kids might come [to AfroPunk for] the fashion, but when they open the fashion, we’re gonna give them the music,” Murray said. “When they see the music, we’re gonna give them the lifestyle, sports. Then we’re gonna give them the things that we deem important — reading, writing, history, knowledge of oneself — the things that really ground a community.”
The relationship between Afro-Punk and today’s youth culture seems to be mutually beneficial, unifying through means of individuality. On both fronts, further evolution seems inevitable.
Brianna Dotson, who was present at the festival to promote Coco & Breezy, the popular hipster eye-wear line she shares with her twin sister, agrees.
“Our generation, we’re colliding more together which is great,” Dotson said. “Our generation is the next big thing.”