The Manhattan Beat: Afropunk Festival 2018 at Commodore Barry Park, Day One

The 2018 Afropunk Festival continued its legacy of recent years in creating a weekend-long event that celebrated alternative trends in Black-centric music, the arts, fashion, political activism and culture. The main attractions were the concert performances by Kaytranada, Miguel, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Tyler the Creator, the Internet, and nearly 40 more performing artists, dance music sets by 25 disc jockeys, kiosks hosted by grassroots community activists, installations by artists, and food and merchandise sold by local entrepreneurs. The biggest draw, however, might have been the audience itself; it seemed like 60,000 people carefully planned their look for Afropunk 2018.

The Afropunk Festival debuted in 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where non-mainstream punk and rock bands featuring musicians of color showcased their music as an alternative to the largely white punk and rock scene. To attract a wider audience, the festival shifted increasingly to include hip hop, neo-soul , blues and other genres, expanding its initial cause along with its target demographic, and moved outdoors to Commodore Barry Park. Musical performers now represent a much wider variety of tastes, yet still primarily reflect breaking African-American artists.

This year, the festival hosted the bulk of its acts on the two larger stages, with a few additional artists on three other stages. One of these side stages was mostly devoted to disc jockeys and another was a block away from the main stages and featured punk bands and a skateboard competition. One section of the park was dedicated to visual arts, another to vendors of fashion and beauty aids, and yet another to community activists.

This year's event was not without its controversies, however. Some people questioned the booking of Tyler the Creator, a rapper reported to have a history of homophobia and lyrics normalizing rape. Also, three attendees were removed because one wore a t-shirt featuring a handwritten message critical of the event.

Day One Headlines

DJ Just Blaze brought out Busta Rhymes.
While many performers insisted that Afropunk was a safe space for everyone, rapper JPEGMAFIA might have alluded that no place is safe, as the New York native, now based in Baltimore, Maryland, rapped about many social ills. Ranting about the music business between raps, he raged violently against what he called "dad rock." Denzel Curry joined in the mosh pit, pepperoni pizza in hand, during "Baby I'm Bleeding."
Jessie Reyez's musicians came on stage at their designated set time and waited silently along with the audience for a half hour until Reyez joined them. There may have been technical difficulties, but Reyez offered no explanation except to apologize and say the delay was not her fault. This started the domino effect of all ensuing sets starting late on that stage.
Did H.E.R. purposely delay her set over an hour to wait for Daniel Caesar to finish his set on another stage? The audience was uninformed, but near the conclusion of her set, Caesar joined H.E.R. to sing the pair’s duet hit, "The Best Part."
Canadian producer-DJ Kaytranada celebrated his 26th birthday with a night-closing set behind a booth that was so high that much of the audience never had a good look at him, even on the large screen projection. His set included music from his forthcoming album, including tracks with Ty Dolla $ign and Busta Rhymes. By the end of the set, he apologized for not performing his best because he got too lit.