Afropunk 2023: Where the Melanin Shines the Brightest
Located at the Greenpoint Terminal Market, Afropunk 2023 not only brought great views of the New York City skyline but a perfect representation of Black genius.
Vince Staples one of the standouts from Afropunk 2023.
Photo Credit: Kaushik Kalidindi for Okayplayer
The mighty Afropunk festival returned to its original home of Brooklyn for a two-day event this past weekend. Located at the Greenpoint Terminal Market, the festival not only brought great views of the New York City skyline but a perfect representation of Black genius
Headlining the first night was producer Flying Lotus, who primarily performed hits off of his 2021 album Yasuke. On the hip-hop side, Vince Staples was in attendance along with New York City icons The Beatnuts.
Covering jazz for Saturday night was artist Madison McFerrin, who comes from a family of acclaimed artists across three generations. Durand Benarr also graced the stage and performed songs from his most recent album Wanderlust, which was released in 2022.
Sunday had a packed slate of artists, headlined by a pair of New York City icons in Teyana Taylor (who replaced Jazmine Sullivan as headliner) and Joey Bada$. Teyana came out of retirement to perform, bringing up her husband Iman Shumpert, who formerly played for the New York Knicks. Joey Bada$ hyped up the crowd performing some of his top hits towards the end of the night.
Preceding the two, the stage saw many great performances from Baby Tate, Sudan Archives, Dreamer Isioma, DBN Gogo, and many more.
Outside of the musical performances, Afropunk showcased local creatives through the Spinthrift Market, providing fans the opportunity to purchase goods from the local Black-owned food trucks.
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