Red Bull Music Festival Germany: Janelle Monae, Pusha T Lead Varied Workshop And Discussion Program

–

Red Bull Music Academy heads back to its debut host city of Berlin for the Red Bull Music Festival Sept. 8 to Oct. 12 for some of the best in experimental music workshops and discussion, featuring conversations with Janelle Monáe and Pusha T, performances from electronic innovator Oneohtrix Point Never and Jlin, Russian DJ Nina Kraviz, and Detroit techno musician Jeff Mills, and much more.

Cultural center and historic recording studio complex Funkhaus Berlin serves as as home base for the Academy during the festival, with Red Bull Music presenting concerts, club nights and public talks at music and cultural venues throughout the city. The event marks 20 years of Red Bull Music Academy, which has taken innovative programming all over the world, with last year’s Los Angeles events featuring St. Vincent and Flying Lotus among its concerts. 

For this year’s Berlin programming, Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills, the first artist to sit down on a Red Bull Music Academy Lecture couch at a Berlin warehouse in 1998, will perform alongside drummer and Fela Kuti collaborator Tony Allen at Funkhaus. Elsewhere, G.O.O.D Music boss and rap legend Pusha T and Grammy-nominated singer and actress Janelle Monáe will take their place on the lecture couch for two public talks during the festival.

 In a nod to techno as part of the German capital’s DNA, S3kt0r Ufo: 30 Jahre Techno sees a roster including Red Bull Music Academy alumna Nina Kraviz, Academy studio team member Mathew Jonson, Westbam, UR presents Depth Charge and DJ Hell come together for a journey through three decades of Berlin techno.

 

One of RBMA’s most popular event series, United States of Bass, goes international with Bass Union, including UK grime figurehead D Double E, Lisbon’s Nidia and club deconstructionist Gaika. An Afro-Rhythmic Affair celebrates a range of explosively popular, swagger-laden club music sounds from the African diaspora with some of the genre’s biggest stars, including Naija/Ghana cool kid Mr. Eazi and Angolan Kuduro star Titica. 

–

 

Continuing in Red Bull Music tradition of fostering creativity, electronic innovator Oneohtrix Point Never and Jlin will create works for the world premiere of the Symphonic Sound System, a new 4D spatial sound system in partnership with MONOM. 

The festival also brings two Red Bull Music signature events to Berlin for the first time: “Culture Clash,” an earth-shaking take on Jamaican soundsystem clashes, and “Diggin’ in the Carts,” presenting live performances including Kode9 and Kōji Morimoto inspired by cult Japanese video game soundtracks.

Previous Red Bull Music Academy host cities have included Dublin, London, Melbourne, Toronto, Barcelona, New York City, Tokyo, Paris and Montreal. 

The long list of acclaimed artists who have participated in past editions of RBMA include Bjork, Giorgio Moroder, Brian Eno, George Clinton, Pharaoh Sanders, Nile Rodgers, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, D’Angelo and many more.