Summer time might have simply begun, however a brand new music competition is already aiming to shut out the season with a bang.
Planet Brooklyn, a two-day music competition headlined by Billboard chart-topping world soca celebrity Machel Montano, will land in its namesake New York borough on Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24. Based by BSE International, Planet Brooklyn seeks to be “a celebration of cultural connection via Brooklyn’s music historical past and variety,” chief merchandise and experiences officer DeJuan Wilson completely tells Billboard.
On Aug. 23, Brazilian celebrity Ludmilla will convey MUTHA — a Stay Nation-produced micro-festival — to the Brooklyn Paramount. MUTHA will function a full lineup of BIPOC queer expertise, together with CupcakKe, Junglepussy and Mykki Blanco. The Planet Brooklyn BAM expertise may even double as one of many academy’s BAM Free Music nights.
On Aug. 24, Montano’s Barclays Middle-headlining set will embody a Majah Hype-hosted showcase of soca and dancehall’s buzziest skills, together with Ayetian, Bunji Garlin, Woman Lava, Drawback Youngster, Ravi B, Skillibeng, Skinny Fabulous and DJ Travis World. Following a pair of sold-out Vybz Kartel reveals (April 11-12) and a headlining flip from Bounty Killer (July 5), Machel’s is the deal in a string of New York arena-headlining Caribbean shows.
“Brooklyn has all the time felt like a second house to me. The vibes, the tradition, the individuals — there’s nothing prefer it,” Montano stated in a press launch. “Each time I step on that stage in New York, particularly in a spot as electrical as Barclays Middle, it’s a celebration of Caribbean spirit and unity. I can’t wait to really feel that vitality once more and share this second with everybody who is aware of what it means to ‘come alive’ via music.”
Montano has earned three prime 10 entries on Reggae Albums: 2015’s Monk Monté (No. 2), 2016’s Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019’s G.O.A.T. (No. 1). On the prime of the 12 months (Jan. 13), the Trinidadian icon performed NPR Tiny Desk’s first-ever soca set, and the next month (Feb. 25), he launched his One Diploma Hotter LP, which featured the Street March-winning anthem, “Pardy.”
Ten months within the making, Planet Brooklyn boasts three main phases throughout Downtown Brooklyn — Barclays Middle, Brooklyn Paramount, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The competition’s flagship venues might be related by free block events filled with activations, native meals distributors and retailers, and performances from native and impartial expertise. Famed reside music occasion expertise model On a regular basis Individuals will host a DJ Moma-helmed operate, Xanadu Skate Crew will staff up with Brooklyn father-son DJ duo St. James Pleasure on the Bushwick venue, and Bangladeshi-American rapper-singer Anik Khan will host a Menasa Sound System-soundtracked occasion.
“Brooklyn is understood for its wealthy historical past within the music house, and that is only a distinctive strategy to inform that story,” says Wilson. “The aim of Planet Brooklyn is to replicate the various cultures of Brooklyn [through who we program]. Brooklyn has about 150 various cultural teams, so you’ve quite a lot of historical past and cultural parts to drag from. The competition might be a good way to rejoice that.”
With a lineup steeped within the sounds of the International South and a bunch metropolis dealing with elevated ICE presence and routinely prickly tensions with its police drive, safety for all Brooklynites to securely and freely benefit from the occasion is essential. When requested about security measures as they pertained to ICE and the NYPD, Wilson declined to remark.
Planet Brooklyn tickets might be on sale at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 25 at planetbrooklynfest.com. With entry obtainable for particular person performances throughout all three venues, followers can personally curate their expertise. Barclays Middle presale tickets can be found now.
Try the total lineup for 2025 Planet Brooklyn under.
Planet Brooklyn
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