AfroPunk 2016: Ice Cube, Soulection + The Internet Close Out Day Two With A Bang

AfroPunk Day Two photographed by Ginny Suss for Okayplayer.

After an opening day that included standout performances by the likes of Flying Lotus, George Clinton, Cee-Lo Green and Thundercat, AfroPunk 2016 upped the ante on Day Two with The Internet, Ice Cube and others.

Soulection showed off their talented squad with a pair of performances by two of their  producers, esta and Sango. Esta played familiar grooves and rare cuts to seduce audiophiles, remixing Aaliyah with funky production and gathering Soulection favorites like special guest Xavier Omar. Sango played hearty remixes of Drake, Nas, and The Weeknd, resonating with the thousands watching him perform on the Gold Stage.

Fans had to wait more than 30 minutes to The Internet perform, but the Grammy-nominated group made it worth their time. They performed hit after hit, starting with "Dontcha" and proceeding into Ego Death's "Special Affair," "Girl," and "Palace / Curse." Syd, using her typical crazy style, kept the crowd engaged through call and response, while Matt Martian and the rest of the band kept everyone's feet moving.

Punk, ska and funk rock legends from Living Colour, Bad Brains and Fishbone combined their talents and prowess to make Brooklyn stand up and mosh the fuck out. Led by Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Corey Glover (Living Colour), H.R. (Bad Brains) — the trio of performers played heavy handed cuts ("Cult Of Personality"), memorable grooves ("Fight The Youth") and played elder statesmen to historical greats. What historical great, you ask? Lead funkateer George Clinton, who joined the band to play a few songs meant to showcase just how close the line between rock and funk has been in the pool of black genius. The collective of musicians played Clinton's "I Call My Baby Pussycat" and "Cosmic Slop," which kept the audience in a trance. All in all, for most who believed that rock, ska and punk was only for the non-POCs, they would be sorely mistaken as three of the greatest to ever do it, did it well and made it look good while doing it.

The final headliner was none other than Ice Cube, whose legacy fans were reminded of from last year's N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. The West Coast legend knows his history and he delivered: he launched off his set with "Natural Born Killaz," and he had slammed Donald Trump and C-walked in Brooklyn by the time he was done. Cube also performed the timeless-yet-timely "Fuck The Police" using real footage from incidents of police brutality. There were sound issues and time constraints, but Cube is one of the greats and his closing performance at AfroPunk showed why.