Afropunk Fest, now in its 11th year, spreads out across Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, August 22-23. What at first emerged as a showcase for black punk acts — inspired by James Spooner’s 2003 documentary “Afro-Punk” — has turned into an expanded and more diverse project. The 2015 edition of the festival, for instance, is charging for tickets for the first time in its history and has booked Lenny Kravitz as the second night’s headliner. It also launched a recent festival in Paris and there is an upcoming version of Afropunk Fest heading to Atlanta in October.But this isn’t reason to fret. Behind the big-name acts at the top of the bill is a stunning lineup of musicians on both days that ranges from club thumping DJs to sultry R&B to outré hip-hop to, as the name suggests, black punk-rock.Of course, some have complained that the latest version of the festival, as it has grown and gathered more corporate sponsorship, has outlived its “punk” beginnings. There might not be anything less punk than Lenny Kravitz. But those arguments only offer a narrow definition of what “punk” means. This is not to say that a focus on black punk rock isn’t necessary, even essential — punk remains, in most people’s minds, the whitest of musical genres — but most of the performers this year fall way outside the African-American mainstream, or any mainstream really. Their defiance of normal and embrace of the weird and wonderful is the connection that brings them all together and, as far as we’re concerned, makes them as punk as anything else that hollow definition now describes.Are you going to Afropunk Fest this weekend and looking to narrow down your options of what to check out and what to skip? We’re here to help. Click through our top eight acts to see at the festival.
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