afro nation
Afro Nation Detroit 2024 was a two-day music festival that brought together top Afro artists across Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, dancehall, gqom, amapiano and more. Held in the birthplace of Motown and techno, Detroit proved to be the perfect location for this vibrant celebration.
The world’s largest Afrobeats festival took place Saturday to Sunday, Aug. 17-18, at Bedrock’s Douglass Site. This historic venue, formerly the Brewster-Douglass Projects, was the nation’s first federally funded housing project for African-Americans and the former home of legends like Diana Ross and Smokey Robinson.
Afro Nation Detroit showcased a wealth of performances from the Black diaspora, including Rema, Omah Lay, Ayra Starr, Kizz Daniel and Michigan native Kash Doll on the main stage. Meanwhile, artists like Uncle Waffles, Musa Keys, Scorpion Kings, DBN Gogo and others kept the party alive all weekend at the Piano People stage. To be honest, there were moments when the Piano stage was even more lit than the main Lit Everywhere stage.
The festival’s opening day faced a rocky start due to weather delays, but once the festivities began, the party didn’t stop until around midnight. DJ Marine kicked things off with an electrifying set, setting the tone for Charity, who brought main-stage energy. King Promise followed, illustrating why he’s the king, delivering a performance that turned the audience into a choir. Rema shut down the day with an unforgettable, fiery performance.
Day 2 saw a significant increase in turnout — if day 1 was full, day 2 was packed. Juls and DJ Marine amped up the crowd upon entry, setting the stage for Ruger, who worked the audience with ease.
When Shenseea took the stage a few minutes later, the crowd erupted, as if they had been waiting their whole lives for this moment. She performed fresh tracks from her new album Never Gets Late Here, followed by Asake, who delivered an animated performance, quite literally bouncing off the walls.
Although Lil Wayne had to cancel due to bad weather in NYC, the festival was still an incredible experience.
Check out the four best main-stage moments.
R&B Meets Afrobeats with PARTYNEXTDOOR
Image Credit: Izzy Nuzzo
Afro Nation, the world’s biggest music festival focused on Afrobeats music, is coming to the continental U.S. for the first time this year. Afrobeats giants Burna Boy and Wizkid will headline its latest two-day festival in Miami in May.
Following the success of its 2022 Afro Nation festivals in Portugal, Puerto Rico and Ghana, the inaugural Afro Nation Miami 2023 will unite the African and Caribbean diaspora at LoanDepot Park on May 27 and 28, 2023.
The upcoming festival will celebrate and highlight the best in Afrobeats, reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, amapiano, soca and other Black-led musical genres. The first wave of performers who have been announced include Rema, Asake, Beenie Man, CKay, BNXN (formerly known as Buju), Dadju, Franglish, Black Sherif, Nelson Freitas, Gyakie and Nissi. Major League DJz and Uncle Waffles will headline the Piano People stage.
Tickets will go on sale starting, Friday at 1 p.m. ET at USA.AfroNation.com. Register at the site to gain access to the special presale.
In March of last year, 40,000 people attended Afro Nation Puerto Rico 2022, its first festival in North America that was headlined by Wizkid and Megan Thee Stallion. In that same month, Afro Nation partnered with Billboard to create the first-ever U.S. chart for Afrobeats music. The U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart ranks the 50 most popular Afrobeats songs in the country based on a weighted formula incorporating official streams on both subscription and ad-supported tiers of leading audio and video music services, plus download sales from top music retailers. Afro Nation recently produced its Ghana-based festival in December.
Afro Nation Portugal 2023 is also set to take place in Portimão from June 28-30, and its lineup has yet to be announced.
See the Afro Nation Miami 2023 lineup below.
Courtesy Photo
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