Whats is afro-punk?

[Kaos Blac]

I wanted to do this cause there isn't one on here yet. I always get "what is afro-punk", "Who is an afro-punk" "what is the music defined as?". I just real tired of answering for the community. I been going to afro-punk events for like the last 3-yeas now and have been promoting and helping out just as long. I still find it weird that people still ask the same questions.

For me afro-punk is, for me, a community. It is family. I met so many of my close friends from the events and made connections across all globe. The event are attended by tons of different folk and the artist varies in the same manner. Shows have featured: african-beat/ dance artist Wunmi, Cody Chesnutt who is dope but a bit outer in the head sense (he's my bro though but every time I meet him he stares me down like I'm the alien come on he wears a cape...everywhere he goes), Philmoore Brown who is like a hip-hop/ meets experimental side show, Adio from Vistor Q, UK, who turned us out while turning inside out his eyelids.

There have been tons of interruptions of what it really is and what's really punk or not. So I want to give this to the community, what say you.

* I want you to vlog about it.
* poetize it
* visualize it
* Make what every you want to publize how you feel about afro-punk, why it good why its bad why do we need it, if we need it.

[Compound Egret]

There's pages of definitions and discussions on the old site about this very subject.

My definition is the same: A Black person who is into (punk) but doesn't use his or her participation in that subculture to build a wall between himself and other Black people who may not be positive to, involved in, or even aware of the subculture. IMHO an "Afropunk" tries to build coalition amongst his folks around the many things they do have in common as opposed to adopting an air of superiority because of his record collection, fashion choices, etc.

I put "punk" in parentheses because a lot of the bands I see associated with the site don't sound like the punk I'm used to. That doesn't invalidate their quality, experience, or expression. The "AP"s who listen to metal, shoegaze, industrial, classical, whatever, will likely have similar experiences. One man's opinion.

peace,

EC

[Ghettopunkrocker]

Really, this Afropunk "movement" has had it's fingerprints and the groundwork has always been around in pop culture and subculture. It's kind of like how Lollapalooza was made for everyone into alternative rock and the town misfit who didn't get everyone else around them and they never understood them, The movie "Afropunk" was kind of if not a gathering point and in someways validation for people of color who we're into "white folks" music but we're ridiculed by family and "friends."

The whole punk term in this context fits us well, I mean as a people we've always been renegades,trailblazers and rebels in art,science and culture and punk supposed to be a group of renegades and rebels against society.

So, bottom line Afropunk is kind of a meeting point,coalition,fraternity,brotherhood for us black renegades of sound and culture.

[Kaos Blac]

Yeah I don't really see a lot of punk bands play, maybe whole wheat bread, Black juju, and the objects but thats it. Yeah I always seen it as a meeting ground for people of different musical back grounds but all share that common thread of the black outsider.

[Kaos Blac]

Yeah I can see the events move more towards the lollapalooza-ish side.

[Christopher Irving]

To me it means just being a black person that's way out the box and being that only black outcast that did'nt fit into the so-called " mainstream cliques" especially in the so-called black elitist society.

[Christopher Irving]

Right on point bro! I've always been that renegade,rebel,that just went way beyond what my peers were doing when I was younger.Hell I've allways felt rejected (and in some ways still do)in black mainstream society.

[Arthouseparty]

I think there are two levels of interpretation. I'm picking up and running with a thread started by a previous poster. Thanks for the idea, Ghettopunkrocker!

a) the literal musical scene sense - black people into the punk scene and lifestyle
b) the ideological sense - punk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_ideologies) as a byword for all things iconoclastic, the idea rebelling against all the stifling social protocols that are supposed to be norms but actually make people miserable, the DIY ethic, culture jamming... generally stirring shit up ;-)

The originally mould breaking genre and lifestyle of hip hop is now in my opinion extremely corporate and mainstream. Chuck D wrote a great article on this http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,950699,00.html so now there is the dire need for a new black subculture to emerge that speaks for us (to an extent) and our individuality. For me it's not so much the music that's the act of rebellion, it's more the idea of saying 'no I refuse to be a black person from the stereotype factory'. There's an interesting book that takes the sterotype defying conversation in another direction - http://www.transculturalism.com. Having the will to forge your own identity, making things up, mixing ideas in music or fashion or even literature that aren't supposed to go together with style and defying people's notions of what boundaries should and should not exist is what being 'punk' could also be about in a wider sense. In short, I'm not a punk proper, but I apply many of the principles to how i construct my identity and my life choices.

The result is ultimately, lots of explaining yourself to people with tunnel vision. Very occasionally (black) people sometimes ask me whether wine tasting, ludology, or snowboarding is a 'black thing', to which I respond, 'it is, when I'm doing it'.

xx

[BlaqMetal The Infamous]

Dunno what an "Afropunk" is but I know who I am. A weird ass black kid that likes loud fast angry guitar music lol. As well as a bunch of other stuff too but thats what I mainly listen to.

I love this place (old and new sites)

I remember the first time I found it totally by accident. I dont even remember how at this point (like 4 years ago). The first time I saw the trailer the hair on the back of my neck and arms stood straight up! i was like "HEY! Thats my story!!!". Im 31 and Ive been going to shows since the early 90's. It wasnt as common as it is now to see black kids at shows. I wish this place was around when I was a kid though. It would have helped me feel less "weird". In retrospect though there a lot of us that revel in our weirdness. Its our identity its who we are.

What is an Afropunk? An anomaly...like you and me.

Live it, love it!!

[SaintGermaine]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to the forum but I've been to Afropunk events in Boston and NYC before and loved it.

I guess I'm more of an Afro-post-punk sorta. I've always been more into Sonic Youth or Talking Heads than The Clash or Sex Pistols, but I think that's beside the point. For me, it seems like the idea is not fitting into the narrow confines, mostly market engineered anyway, of "acting black", and following the spirit of your own individuality.

Here's something funny -- Mtv is partly responsible for my Afropunktitude. Back in the 90's, Yo!Mtv raps came on every Saturday at 10pm, followed by the Headbangers Ball at 11pm. When Fab Five Freddy signed off, I'd usually stay tuned and watch Ricky Rackman, and hey, I liked a lot of the stuff they played. I remember the first time they played Alice In Chains "Man In The Box" or Nirvana's "Come As You Are"

And then on Sundays I'd stay up and watch 120 Minutes and discovered The Pixies and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Remember when Mtv was cool?

[Kamikaze]

Yeah...even though i didn't have cable, and still dont lol, It was cool.

[Kaos Blac]

Cable sucks, lol.