(Please note: The 2019 La Isla Bonita Festival was canceled due to the NYC Mayor’s Declaration of a heatwave in NYC on July 20th. See the full note from the festival organizers, here!) La Isla Bonita Festival (with SummerStage) is back and celebrating 5 years of local and global arts, culture and activism on Staten Island! Learn … Read More
“I rule the world when my legs spread apart,” pits Nani Castle on her highly anticipated debut album, SIN YORK, out today. Release party will take place in Brooklyn tomorrow, Friday February 22nd at Baby’s All Right (RSVP). Get SIN YORK on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music or Soundcloud Produced by longtime musical partner Udachi, Castle offers … Read More
“Having met in Rio de Janeiro, the three acts connected over trading Youtube clips of UK grime MCs, Chicago footwork dancers in Chicago and Atlanta trap producers. This naturally evolved into a creative partnership that draws influences from the many black music scenes across the world. Their eponymous debut album, Ziminino, looks to showcase Africa’s … Read More
“It’s the first time we were invited to a festival on Staten Island. It’s not a place we would come visit so it was an actual bridging moment here,” said Colombian-born musician Juan Ospina of M.A.K.U*. “What I felt today is an actual bridge of culture in times that we can’t forget our roots.” Thanks … Read More
Check out the re-cap from GLOBAL LOCAL at SXSW 2018, a showcase platforming indigenous and new world diasporadical artists resisting cultural assimilation at #SXSW, the belly of the corporate music industry beast. After 6 years of making the space at SXSW and 4 years hosting an official showcase, Sol Collective joined forces with indigenous music … Read More
The Philharmonik is the stage name of Christian Gates, a 24-year-old future soul and R&B artist in Sacramento. He’s earned a reputation for putting on electrifying live performances at Concerts in the Park, Sol Collective, the Tree Tone Records OnTheBlock Party and at venues all over town. His music blends contemporary rap and hip-hop influences … Read More
I learned about the amazing work of New Economy Coalition from a conference I had been hearing about whose name I loved, CommonBound. It was incredible to learn there was a national movement of people building tomorrow, today through solidarity economies. Now I get to work with over 200 organizations in coalition across many sectors … Read More
Congrats to 95 year old bullerengue singer Magin Diaz and the transnational team of collaborators who successfully crowdfunded and released his “El Orisha de la Rosa” album this year. It just won a Latin Grammy for Best Album Packaging. But inside the package, you’ll be inspired by the global collaboration connecting folkloric Colombian music to … Read More
Check out this piece I co-wrote with Francisco Perez for Africa Is A Country about Despacito, global Capitalism and where we can go from here to own our spirits! “What is the point of decrying the many ways the music industry exploits Afro-Latinos when nothing can be done (and we haven’t even touched on the obvious … Read More
“AfroRazones – a space for Afro-Cuban expression, archiving a Cuban manifestation of Black resistance in 2017 – was born last year inside DJ Jigüe’s Guampara Studios. It was nurtured by a team of Cuban and U.S.-based artists and organizers (including LPZ who produces for Cuban hip-hop luminaries, Danay Suarez and Los Aldeanos) that recognized the impending changes of the current sociopolitical … Read More