CCulture
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  • 7 minute read

Now on Forbes: The Evolution of Afropunk

...h rock pioneers Skunk Anansie (credit: Rob Fields) People Travel To Attend Afropunk Jocelyn Cooper, Afropunk: 40% of the audience in Paris & NY comes from outside those particular cities. It’s truly a global and national audience. And based on research, we know that 68% of our community have passports and they travel. Young people of color will pick themselves up and pay for an experience in another country. On Pivoting To A Media Company Cooper:...
CCulture
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  • 4 minute read

Afropunk, Black Diversity, And What Marketers Need To Know

...ic and culture of the black alternative set. Music is a useful window into Afropunk culture. “We define Afropunk [music] as anything that’s not mainstream hip hop or mainstream R&B,” says Jocelyn Cooper who, along with her partner Matthew Morgan, produces the festival. In a world that still equates “black cool” with hip hop (see Toyota’s off-tone Swagger Wagon 2), Afropunk is “the other black experience.” Rather than marketers’ narrow assumptions...
MMe
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Quoted in Popmatters on Afropunk

...er market is actually much more diverse than most marketers realized, with Afropunk being Exhibit A. (Afropunk and Black Diversity, and What Marketers Need to Know, August 21 2014) Fields quoted festival co-producer Jocelyn Cooper who described the Afropunk community as not just a bunch of black folk with weird hair but, in marketing-speak, “an influencer community”. Said community is highly educated: Fields cited a 2012 survey Afropunk commission...
CCulture
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Jocelyn Cooper of Afropunk in “Fast Company”

...info on black alternative culture, check out My Forbes column, “Afropunk and Black Diversity” My Slideshare deck, “The Rise of the Black Alternative” Afropunk Fest 2014: Day 1 In Pictures Afropunk Fest 2014: Day 2 In Pictures...
CCulture
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Afropunk Festival 2013

...k Coalition. One of the things that’s clear from the article is that brand Afropunk is still struggling with its identity. But it’s certainly made “black weirdos”–that whole category of black kids who don’t necessarily listen to hip hop out of course–much more visible and, therefore, more normalized. One young woman says: “I still deal with hipster racist douchebags [at shows] every now and then, but at least now I’m not afraid to slap someone in...
CCulture
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Afropunk Announces 2016 Festival Lineup

...ider this a wake up call. Especially since the initial lineup for the 2016 Afropunk Festival (August 27-28 in Brooklyn) was announced yesterday, this is a great moment to assess where you stand in relation to the opportunity this festival and the audience it attracts–represents. I see no reason why there won’t be another 60,000 people here this year. AFROPUNK BROOKLYN 2016 LINEUP Ice Cube TV On The Radio Tyler The Creator CeeLo Green Flying Lotus...
CCulture

2 days to the Afropunk jumpoff

...hena just concluded three nights of amazing (yes, it was that good) music this past Saturday with the third installment of the URB Alt Festival.  Check out my posts here and here. But no sooner is that done than the 2008 Afropunk Festival starts.  40 bands, 15 films and 5 days of pro BMX bikers and pro skaters converge on Fort Greene in planet Brooklyn.  Ah, it’s such a great time for Black rock! Check the cross-post at Bold As Love....
BBlog
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Afropunk ’14: Day 1 In Pictures

Heading back out for Day 2 of Afropunk, so here are some photos from yesterday. Also, if you’re still wondering why you should be there, read my latest via Forbes.com. Sunny Gang CX Kidtronik Fan Dancer Tecla Guillermo Brown aka Pegasus Warning Celia of Les Nubiennes style icon since. . Author Laina Dawes Valerie June King Britt Ceddy Jay The wave Strike a pose Yale’s Daphne Brooks & cultural critic Greg Tate Living Colour’s Corey Glover I dug br...
CCulture
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Afropunk ’14: Day 2 In Pictures

...The 2014 Afropunk Festival came to an end on Sunday. Here’s some of what happened. Tamar-Kali Jerome Jordan Cakes Da Killa The crowd SZA Cipher’s Moe Mitchell Abiah Meshell Ndegeocello More beautiful people Vickie Starr of Girlie Action Rae Maxwell & Maya Azucena Amy Linden & Derick Prosper Kirk Douglas & D’Angelo Questlove...
CCulture
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The Future of Black Consumer Engagement

...ow can it be seen as a partner? Finally, it would be a mistake to think of Afropunk attendees as just the market segment on the leading edge of black culture. They are, but they’re not outliers. There are many more who feel the same, spanning ages, geographies, and occupations. While the masses may not dress as creatively as Afropunk attendees, the hunger for affirmation and respect runs deep, and is being demanded. The brands that thrive with thi...
CCulture
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Now on @Slideshare: The Rise of Black Alternative Culture

...re either African American or part of the African diaspora. The success of Afropunk speaks not only to is success as a festival brand. More important, I think, is the presence of an audience that can support it. In that regard, this audience has been growing and evolving for a while, to the point where we see multiple expressions of what I call the #NewBlackImagination. I define the #NewBlackImagination as a post-modern sensibility among some blac...