The 2012 festival has the most stellar line up yet with Erykah Badu, Gym Class Heroes, Janelle Monae, Das Racist, Toro Y Moi, Reggie Watts, Spank Rock, Ninjasonik, The Memorials, Bad Rabbits, Gordon Voidwell, Cerebral Ballzy, Phony Ppl, Body Language, and more to be added! In addition, the Nike Battle For the Streets Skate Competition, the largest street skate competition in NYC will return this year with the nation’s top amateur skaters in a competition to be judged by top professionals in both sports.

Last year’s festival was unfortunately cancelled due to Hurricane Irene which almost put an end to the Afro-punk Festival but through the organization’s work and this year’s sponsors which include Nike, Vitamin Water, and media sponsors The Fader and WNYC, the festival is back and still free to the public!

Described by the New York Times as putting “rock and rebellion squarely in the category of African-American music,” the Afro-punk Festival has become a Brooklyn intuition, the focal point for the burgeoning Afro-punk movement. Over the past seven years, the festival has presented new artists before they hit it big, such as Grammy-nominated Santigold, The Noisettes and Janelle Monae. Afro-punk mainstays like Saul Williams, The Dirtbombs, and Dallas Austin have also graced Afro-punk’s stages.