The Red Bull Music Academy Sound System series will bring a roaming pulpit of sun-drenched rhythms, triumphant beats and street-party antics to three UK cities this summer. Kicking off the mini tour in Bristol on July 5th, the series then veers North for a stop off in Manchester on the 19th, before a boomerang swing down to London’s illustrious Notting Hill Carnival on Monday 25th August.
Launching the tour, Bristol’s St. Pauls Carnival sees the Red Bull Music Academy Sound System stage graced by the inimitable king of house-kissed R&B, Jazzie B presenting ’25 years of Soul II Soul’. Formed initially as a sound system spinning records at house and street parties, it’s fitting that swift-fingered founding father tops the bill. Local boy Redlight goes b2b with Toddla T for a dancehall via 2-step special, self-confessed “Riddim Obsessives” Jus Now let loose some bass-laden Soca beats and Reprazent player DJ Krust knocks out his signature Bristol drumfunk. They’re joined by Black Butter boys My Nu Leng , Mensah’s dubsteppin’ alter-ego New York Transit Authority, house duo GotSome, and Débruit popping out the synth-heavy syncopated beat brawl that’s won him fans the world over.
Onto the Manchester brigade, headed up by an exclusive carnival set from king of (the) jungle and Kiss FM heavy DJ Hype, who’s unrelenting torrents of drum’n’bass, breakbeat and hip-hop have made him one of his generation’s dancefloor pioneers, alongside local bass cartel lynchpins Murkage and Jamaican/Glaswegian outfit Mungo’s Hi Fi. Ninja Tune’s urban electrosmith and 2010 Red Bull Music Academy graduate Poirier, Levelz, grime fusion mechanic Chimpo and Sheffield’s reggae record mecca Sama Roots step in, with many more yet to be announced.
Completing the Carnival circuit, the Red Bull Music Academy Sound System stage touches down in London, bringing its Notting Hill throwdown back to the Westway. With the line-up set for release in early August, expect that same mashup of luminaries, legends and new blood to soundtrack the capital’s ultimate celebration of summer.
Find out more at redbull.co.uk/rbmacarnival