Congrats are in order to Afro-punk's James Spooner, Matthew Morgan, Kaos Blac, Rape Whistle and all the bands that were shouted out in the MTV.com article that broke yesterday.
Some tidbits:
The fundamental contradiction of black kids feeling left out of rock — which from its very beginning was based on black music — has played a large role in the creation of Afro-Punk. And while there have been many black artists who have been embraced by white rock fans, from Little Richard to Sly and the Family Stone to the Bad Brains, the Afro-Punk movement has found fans bonding and creating communities, organizing shows and shooting films in a whole new way.
Afro-Punk has gone from the name of a message board to a movement in less than five years — and the scene just keeps growing.
And this:
As the popularity of Santogold and other artists loosely associated with the scene has grown, Afro-Punk has exploded beyond its musical definition, even including Grammy-nominated Bad Boy recording artist Janelle Monáe, whose music can hardly be considered traditionally punk (she's opened for Nas and has been called "the female version of Prince" by Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz).
"I felt it was my duty as an artist and as a young African-American woman to support Afro-Punk," Monáe told us at the Afro-Punk Festival last summer.
"I think it's very important to let people know that we're not all the same. Diversity needs to be promoted more … I love being in that environment, and that is something I am trying to promote."
Read the full article here.
