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Afropunk Festival Showcases Diverse African-American Music Scene

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The lineup at AfroPunk 2013. (AfroPunk/Facebook)
The lineup at AfroPunk 2013 (click to enlarge). (AfroPunk/Facebook)

The summer is winding down, but not before one of the last great music festivals of the season.

This weekend, about 30,000 people will turn out in Brooklyn's Commodore Barry Park for the 8th annual Afropunk Fest.

Although Afro-punk is a genre on its own, the festival includes artists from hip hop to pop to punk.

"We describe Afro-punk as a free space for African Americans — and anyone else who wants to come onto that space — to just be who they are, and not being defined by monolithic definition of what, sort of, the outside culture puts on us as African American people. So if you like metal, if you like hip hop, if you like emo, if you're into body modification or tattoos, it's a space to be yourself," festival organizer Jocelyn Cooper told Here & Now.

Guest

  • Jocelyn Cooper, one of the organizers of Afropunk Fest. She tweets @jocelyn_jc.

This segment aired on August 23, 2013.

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