Afropunk finds space in a packed festival scene

No one has bothered to create an official database to prove it, but it’s not a stretch to say that Atlanta has the most festivals in the Southeast, if not the country. We have festivals named after trees, festivals for food trucks, festivals for hip-hop, festivals for country music, festivals for black art, festivals for Jewish films, festivals for ice cream, festivals for beer, and yes, we even have festivals hosted inside cemeteries.

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The newest addition to this list is the Afropunk fest taking place at Central Park in 4th Ward West October 3-4. It falls right in the middle of a seven-week span of festivals happening every weekend. As a frequent visitor to Atlanta, Afropunk co-founder Matthew Morgan knew of Atlanta’s highly populated festival scene before he chose to bring it here for the first time. But where some see overcrowding, he sees opportunity. “That doesn’t deter me at all,” Morgan says.

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Prior to last year, he hadn’t promoted an Afropunk show in Atlanta since 2009. “I come from a festival culture,” he says. “Festivals in the United States are a relatively new thing. Festivals have been big business in Europe for a long time.”

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Originally from London, Morgan co-created the Afropunk brand with filmmaker James Spooner when they released the documentary of the same name in 2003. The film sought to shine light on the plight of the black punk rocker as they navigated a predominately white subgenre. The film led to the creation of an international online community for these outcasts to meet, which birthed the first-ever Afropunk fest at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2005. The first meet-up had 150 people. A decade later the festival has added Paris and Atlanta as destinations, draws 60,000 people, and the online community spans 14 million people.

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Past performers have included Lenny Kravitz, Grace Jones, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Jada Pinkett Smith as well as her son Jaden. Among the 30-plus performers slated for the Atlanta show are headliners D’Angelo, Public Enemy, Santigold, Death Grips, Flying Lotus, Suicidal Tendencies, and Tyler, The Creator while local acts The Difference Machine, Baby Baby, and Rahbi Raw also appear on the bill. With the presumed creator of neo-soul (D’Angelo) and one of the founders of conscious hip-hop (Chuck D of Public Enemy) sharing the stage, where exactly does punk fit into the lineup? As Afropunk has grown from its humble beginnings, original punks have criticized the festival for straying from its hardcore roots and even having the audacity to start charging for tickets after nine years of free admission (even though you can earn free tickets through their community service program). Spooner himself even separated from the festival in 2008. Music industry veteran Jocelyn Cooper filled his shoes the following year.

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The irony is that in the opening seconds of the Afropunk documentary, one of the subjects states that Nina Simone is just as punk as Sid Vicious. “I don’t think a lot of those people have actually seen the film,” Morgan says. “But I’ve closed that door with the film and moved in a different direction consciously. There are people who are wrapped up in what Afropunk stands for — for them. They are not in the day-to-day challenges that we are wrapped in. So it’s easy to stand on the sidelines and say, ‘I don’t like this, I don’t like that.’ Putting people back into a box makes no sense to me.”

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Morgan goes on to say that the reality is the festival is still doing what it set out do: “We are still a community, festival, and destination for alternative people of color to get together in one place at one time like nowhere else on the planet,” he says. “Our greatest accomplishment is having R&B and trap, LGBTQ adults and trans kids together. We have every representation of blackness at one time.”

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Seeing as how Atlanta is simultaneously the epicenter of black music ranging from Usher to Future and home to one of the largest black LGBTQ communities in the world, Afropunk probably couldn’t have picked a better new home. Morgan tested the market by hosting two Afropunk-branded concerts at Terminal West. The first featured a Hollyweerd reunion. The second was a secret show with Run the Jewels. For the weeks leading up to the big show, Morgan and his team rented out and set-up shop in Space2 on Edgewood converting it into an office and pop-up shop where passersby can purchase merchandise — Afropunk collaborated with local brand Fresh.I.Am — and attend their weekly “Race Music” event series that includes film screenings and after-parties for documentaries touching subjects ranging from James Brown and Nina Simone to the Black Panther Party.

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“The King Center is RIGHT THERE,” Morgan says. Pointing out of his new office’s window, he reveals that the minimalist look of the Afropunk show bill is a nod to this year’s theme: protest. “People may take that for granted here,” he says. “But that’s a huge deal.”

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While Morgan may be an Englishman in Atlanta, he is no tourist. He originally wanted to have Afropunk at Mozley Park and plans on purchasing a home here. Yes, you may find him shopping at Lenox Mall, but you’ll also see him eating at Edgewood Pizza. Sure, he’ll have a couple of drinks with the city’s tastemakers, but he’s also come to know some of the street dwellers on Edgewood by a first name basis. “Do you know Shine?” he says, introducing a salt-and-pepper haired man who has walked up to the pop-up shop’s entrance.

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Shine proceeds to talk about how Edgewood used to be before “all these folks” got here. He also brags about playing his harmonica in Big K.R.I.T.’s “Country Shit” video and cranks up an impromptu performance. “Can you help me get on the train today?” Shine asks after playing a couple notes. Without hesitating, Morgan assists. “See, that’s what I’m talking about,” Shine says. “He ain’t even from here and already helping people. You gonna get blessed. GO GET THAT MONEY!”

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Morgan secures curated sponsorships through Afropunk creative agency Multiply. The firm handled the packaging and promotion for D’Angelo’s Black Messiah album. “I’m sure that for every one person that has a issue with Afropunk, there are two that will say it has helped their lives and informed them in ways other things haven’t been able to,” Morgan says. “If I died tomorrow, I would be pleased with what we’ve help to build.”