Check it out now, and then go buy your camping supplies before it drops on Thursday March 29th.
Images courtesy of Supreme
One of the collective’s initiatives includes collaborations – one being with USB Club. This retro-futurist network highlights the importance of the USB for all types of artists. RAPRAVE’s other collaborations consist of Eternal, a ticketing and event platform, and Evenings.fm to increase audio broadcasting and recording accessibility.
“SEASON0NE is the first official season of RAPRAVE,” the collective says. “Everything before this has laid down the foundation for what we are building on top of now. This is the beginning of our lore. RAPRAVE is dedicated to restoring a feeling that’s been there before rooted in music education and rave nostalgia.”
The way physical and digital spaces interact and communicate is a priority for RAPRAVE. Their ability to explore what people want both online and offline helps them achieve the best events for the people. There isn’t much overthought into who DJs and performs at their events. They don’t book the most popular artists – they instead book those who are making an impact in the music community.
“Our seasons are defined by our creative inspirations during that period,” RAPRAVE says. “There’s no set timeline for how long that feeling can last – capture a vibe and ride with it.”
RAPRAVE has previously collaborated with artists including HiTech, X-Coast, UNIIQU3, and more. Their previous events include DARK [RR]OOM Los Angeles, SEASON0 NYC, Brooklyn, and Belgrade.
They have another event series called CONCIERGE featuring Jubilee, Tlim Shug, HiTech, gum.mp3, EDEN, Martyn Bootyspoon, and more. RAPRAVE’s partnership with USB Club gave each CONCIERGE event a file-sharing station for secure and high-quality music files.
“(We want) to continue expanding the RAPRAVE universe and people’s understanding of the corners and contexts that this world touches,” they say. “It overlaps between generations of artists, regions of sounds, and even types of mediums.”
The fashion at Afropunk was a sight to behold. From afros to braids, and even edgy spiked hair, attendees adorned themselves with a stunning array of hairstyles, complemented by a diverse range of makeup styles and outfits. People flaunted an eclectic mix of fashion choices, including flowers, fringes, leather, crochet, vibrant colors, and unconventional footwear. It was a vivid display of the individuality that each Black person brings, dispelling the notion that Black culture adheres to any singular concept.
Afropunk originally began as an exhibition and film, crafted by James Spooner and Matthew Morgan, to recognize the presence of punk, alternative, and metal within the Black community. Though the festival has evolved since its inception in 2005, the essence of counter-culture remains at its core. Simultaneously, Afropunk's music, fashion, and art illustrate that Black culture often emerges as a form of counter-culture before evolving into society's most coveted culture.
Detroit-based photographer Isaiah Johns captured the abundance of Black love, joy and talent that graced Afropunk 2023.
FLAMER’s mission is to use cannabis to bring together artists, creatives, and innovators, providing a space to meet one another to foster friendships and professional relationships. The party became a physical embodiment of this mission, bringing together people from all different backgrounds. New York is one of the few places in the world in which one can be openly queer and consume cannabis without social repercussions, making FLAMER’s party that much more groundbreaking.
In collaboration with Cecilia Centili, founder of Transgender Equity Consulting, and Ty Sunderland, the renowned DJ who has spent his career producing queer music events, the FLAMER team was able to capture the essence of the queer experience in one unique party. Of course, throwing a cannabis party while the industry is still in its infancy, comes with some challenges. Laws around the industry move very slowly, which means getting legal permission and approval can take some time. After having the original idea in August of 2021, the team was able to make the party come to fruition for a night filled with music, dancing, and munchies.
The queer community and cannabis culture are more socially and politically intertwined than we realize. With parallel roots in the countercultural movements of the 20th century, both cultures were advocating for civil and social rights. Matías tells me even the recipe for weed brownies was popularized by Brownie Mary (Mary Jane Rathbun) as she distributed the edibles to AIDS patients to alleviate their pain. To this day, statistics show that queer people are 2.5x more likely to consume cannabis than non-queer counterparts.
Check out the images from the party below.
