SA musicians to play Afropunk in Brooklyn

The line-up includes South African artists Sho Madjozi, Manthe Ribane and Nakhane, all of whom have been making big waves on the local music scene in the past few years.

Sho Madjozi shared the news on social media. "I've been booked for Afropunk in Brooklyn, New York this year. WHATTTTTT," she wrote on Twitter

Whereas Sho Madjozi and Ribane will only play the Afropunk Brooklyn event, Nakhane will also get to perform at the Paris leg of the festival in July. Nakhane recently released the album You Will Not Die which received positive reviews from major publications such as The Guardian. The singer has also made the news due to his debut film appearance in the controversial movie Inxeba. 

The Afropunk Paris line-up was announced earlier in March and includes Nigerian artists Nneka, Davido and Wizkid who will share the stage with Damien Marley and Sza.

Last year, Afropunk Brooklyn was hosted by South African singer and designer Nandi Madida. The festival included performances by DJ Maphorisa, house duo Black Motion and Ghanaian singer Jojo Abot.

In December last year Afropunk was hosted in Johannesburg, which marked the first time that the festival was held on African soil. Laura Mvula, Thandiswa Mazwai and Spoek Mathambo were some of the artists who played Afropunk Johannesburg, while Solange Knowles cancelled her appearance due to health issues.

The festival’s organisers have not announced any plans to host the festival in South Africa or the UK this year.

Afropunk was founded by James Spooner in 2005. It was established with the goal to celebrate black alternative culture in America. The festival has since expanded globally with events taking place in cities such as London, Paris, Johannesburg and New York. The festival will also take place in Atlanta this year.

Afropunk Brooklyn runs from 25 to 26 August. 

For more information, visit the official Afropunk website.