Afropunk has announced details for its virtual festival called Black Spring set for April 23. The event will feature performances from Rico Nasty, Seu Jorge, Seafoam Walls and more.
Black Spring is set to combine Aforpunk’s legacy of inclusion, activism and highlighting the best new talent in the world with a focus on Afro-Latine and Afro-Caribbean artists and culture for 2021. Additional performers include DAWERXDAMPER, Black Pantera, ChocQuibTown, Projexx and JUP DO BAIRRO. The whole festival will be hosted by Santana Caress Benitez.
For the first time, Afropunk will team up with NRP Music to present the kick-off video performance Tiny Desk Meets Afropunk, which will be available on npr.org/music and YouTube.
“Black Spring is a moment to celebrate our African lineage and not allow the exploits of colonialism to further separate us whether we speak Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, or Dutch. We are Black,” said Black Spring producer Tina Farris in a release. “Celebrating with Tiny Desk is the perfect partner for this expansion in highlighting Afro-Latine and Afro-Caribbean voices. NPR has always been a purveyor of world music, and we are excited about expanding the Afropunk tenants with their audience.”
The Tiny Desk Meets Afropunk program will include performances by ChocQuibTown, Calma Carmona, Luedji Luna, and Nenny, and will be hosted by Afropunk vet Jorge “Gitoo” Wright.
Inspired by the idea of claiming one’s freedom, as well as the change in season, the vibrancy of the Afro-Latin musical community, Black Spring will be a virtual festival like no other this year. The festival will be an evolving, cultural space from which to inspire and create discourse, and will focus on the tenets of Afropunk’s ongoing core mission: to propel, support, affirm, and learn from these communities at large.
“NPR Music is thrilled to bring a collaboration with Afropunk and Tiny Desk to our audience, specifically in joining their ‘Black Spring’ festival to celebrate and amplify Afro-Latinx and Afro-Caribbean artists,” said Abby O’Neill, NPR Music’s producer of the collaboration, in a release. “Afropunk has excelled at artist curation and lifting up new voices throughout their global community. With our combined reach, we can expand the impact and celebration for this special edition of the Tiny Desk.”
Black Spring is produced by industry veterans Farris, Anthony Maddox, and Dominic Pearson in conjunction with Cyrus Dennis, Allen T. Lamb, Sango Amoda, Shauna Gray and Anita Asante.
