CEO of AFROPUNK, Matthew Morgan talks about his decision to bring his international festival to Atlanta (a place he refers to as Black Heaven, and we must agree). In an interview with Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he expresses, “[Atlanta’s] a place where alternative black music, alternative black hip-hop, and alternative black mainstream music has been created forever,” he adds, “there is something in the water here that allows for this black creativity to thrive in a way that doesn’t in other places.”
AFROPUNK ATL took place at the 787 Windsor venue last month, which seems to be a popular space as the REVOLT Summit was also held there back in September. This festival is a place where people don’t have to step outside of their comfort zone, but rather they have access to people who share the same interests as them.
As with each AFROPUNK stop, festivalgoers were able to fully express themselves in every way – from their style of clothes to the color of their hair. People were able to enjoy the sounds of artists like Anderson.Paak, Sir, Masego, and many more. Outside of music, there were activations around the city like The Afropunk Battle of the Bands and Solution Sessions, a live installment of a podcast to discuss solutions for support and better representation for marginalized communities, really speaking to the festival theme- ‘The Carnival of Conciousness.’
Over 20 years ago this casual hangout uniting the “African spirit” and alternative music across various genres was created in Brooklyn and now continues to thrive in cities all over the world, including Johannesburg, London, and Brasil.
