Okayafrica teamed up once again with our friends at SummerStage to host another evening of music in New York City’s Central Park over the weekend.
The heat, which at times felt like a scorching 100°F, didn’t stop the crowd from getting down to the sounds of Mbongwana Star, Batida, Young Paris and DJ Underdog in between much-needed shade and water breaks.
The likes of Fab 5 Freddy and Ghanaian singer Jojo Abot were spotted across the audience enjoying the show, as Young Paris kicked off the evening with the mix of rapping and electronic beats heard on his latest release African Vogue.
Paris, who comes fresh off his Roc Nation signing, was backed by his band and two stunning dancers who lit incense and gyrated throughout the set. His whole crew was clad in all-white outfits.
Batida followed next. The Angolan-Portuguese producer took the audience to school, talking through the kuduro and semba influences behind his tunes and pulling up Youtube clips of the songs he’s sampled before turning his set into a full-fledged dance party, as bursts of rain relieved the crowd from the day’s heat.
One of the highlights of the night came as Batida called up 17 people on stage to bring attention to the 17 detained Angolan activists he’s been fighting to free since last year.
As the sun went down, Kinshasa’s Mbongwana Star closed off the night with a highly-energetic live set that blended Congolese rhythms, post-punk bass, and distorted electronics into a mind-blowing and hypnotizing wall of sound.
Check out photos from the evening at SummerStage, shot by Oluwaseye, below.
