(AllHipHop Editorial) Yesterday (August 24th), the Afropunk Festival closed out its 10th anniversary in a manner befitting a concert historically known for a diverse musical display:Four stages of non-stop music. Commodore Berry Park was engulfed in the Afropunk experience, with vendors such as Nubian Heritage lined in the back of the main Green Stage while performers such as Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings on Day 1.
Near the end of Cakes Da Killa’s performance on the Red Stage, the 360 degree musical experience of Afropunk appeared to sprout organic surprises such as Brooklyn United Marching Band began a seemingly impromptu performance:
SZA, in nothing more than her signature smile and a Cheech & Chong T-shirt swayed around the stage while crooning songs from her Z EP. The sheepish and stationary movements of her performance at Rough Trade last month began to give way to more energetic movements to the vibrating bounce of “Hiijack” and the stuttering drums of “Babylon”.
Afropunk’s four stage design was a manifestation of the “music everywhere, anytime” movement that has grown in prevalence with the advent of mobile music streaming. However, that sheer volume of choice becomes overwhelming once the machine is delayed. Once Cakes Da Killa and SZA’s back-to-back performances were delayed by over 20 minutes, The Internet’s originally scheduled 6:15 P.M. performance was pushed back until fans had to choose between 20 year veteran Meshell Ndegeocello on the main Green Stage and the upstart new age funk band.
This was not as easy to mask when 8:30 P.M. arrived and the collective crowds of the Gold, Black and Red Stage(along with the food truck ) converged on the Green Stage lawn to witness D’angelo. The reclusive genius, whom performed at Brooklyn Bowl with ?uestlove last year, did not emerge until an hour afterwards and after roughly 30 minutes was thanking a dejected and withering crowd for coming out.
With ?uestlove on drums, D’angelo’s time was used expertly with his first song being a stirring rendition of Bob Marley’s “Burning & Looting” which speaks on police brutality. D’angelo’s short performance was an emblem of the past 14 years of his career: Sudden, spectacular and short.
Check out AllHipHop recap of Day 2 of Afropunk below:
