On Saturday, the Young World festival reinforced the potential of what a music event can be in the era of thousand-dollar VIP passes and nosebleed stadium seats that cost half of your rent: The free Brooklyn fest was expansive but manageable, globally minded but locally sourced, and rap-centric above all else.
At the center of it all was curator and local hero MIKE, who took the stage in the middle of a lineup that included independent-minded artists from across the hip-hop landscape. Though gray storm clouds were brewing over Herbert Von King Park when MIKE opened his set, his warm koans of gratitude—which morphed into celebratory call-and-response anthems in front of hundreds of fans—seemed to keep the bad weather at bay. Living up to his collective spirit in art and action, MIKE invited a handful of guests on stage to share the spotlight during his performance, including newcomers El Cousteau from D.C. and Niontay from Florida, along with his mentor Earl Sweatshirt, who stirred up a frenzy with the first live performance of his electrifying new single “Making the Band (Danity Kane).” Earl then put the attention back on his friend’s festival and the community it emboldened. “Brooklyn, look at y’all baby, man. Look at what he doin’, man,” he said with a toothy smile. All MIKE could do in the moment was clasp his hands together and mouth “thank you.”
Since its inception in 2019, Young World has specialized in bringing the different corners of rap culture—particularly NY indie rap—together. The pandemic shuttered the festival for two years, but it came back strong in 2022 with sponsorship from New York’s famed Central Park Summerstage series, giving MIKE and the team behind his 10k label the chance (and the budget) to put the city’s indie rap scene on a proper pedestal.
This year, Young World’s vision was expanded further. Alongside Summerstage, it boasted sponsorships from streetwear titan Supreme and brands like Pepsi, as well as a handful of tents for local, Black-owned businesses selling vegan food and screen-printed shirts. Nolly Babes, an Instagram page dedicated to archiving the fashion of turn-of-the-century cinema from Nigeria, had rare DVDs to display and zines for sale. And not to be shown up, neighborhood street carts took it upon themselves to sling burgers, homemade Patron margaritas, and $10 eighths of weed. The vibes blurred the line between a music festival and the biggest family cookout you’ve ever been to.
MIKE and company applied that same keen curatorial eye to the festival’s lineup. Brooklyn rapper AKAI SOLO warmed the crowd up early with explosive renditions of his poetic and abstract songs, before Florida’s 454 spiked the energy with his bubbly cloud and plugg rap. Jay Critch brought his ear for melody and dead-eyed raps to the same stage that North Carolina rapper Mavi would later turn into a confessional booth, running through a handful of cuts from his tender 2022 album Laughing so Hard, it Hurts. But the final two acts were the ones who grabbed the crowd most.
Los Angeles singer-songwriter-producer Georgia Anne Muldrow played her brand of soul-R&B-rap fusion to an audience of bobbing umbrellas, always in control while running between her soundboard and her microphone in a matching pink dress and headdress. Noname and her band then graced the stage to roars, as she serenaded listeners with jazzy flips of fan-favorites like “Blaxploitation” and “Reality Check,” and debuted songs from her upcoming project, Sundial. The new material had a similar airy, neo-soul quality as 2018’s Room 25, with cushioning bars like, “Let me down by the edge of the river/Pray to God that my edges deliver.”
More than any one performer, though, Young World stayed committed to the sense of togetherness it was created to protect. According to a recent interview with Okayplayer, MIKE relinquished what was surely a hefty payday from Summerstage to spread the wealth among the other seven acts on the bill. And even at its most packed, the atmosphere in the audience was wholesome, communal—I can’t remember the last time I was at a festival where I saw so many old friends reuniting and new relationships being forged. Picnic blankets covered in Backwoods wrappers and snack containers were everywhere, and people of all backgrounds, races, and gender identities broke bread and passed quarter-waters and cans of Starry back and forth. With Young World, MIKE and 10k have taken a rap movement born on bedroom computers and in hole-in-the-wall venues, and given it the presence and sense of community it deserves.
