In a few hours, New Orleans will be the dopest spot for art and music. Why? Because the Buku Music + Art Project will be in full swing. Over the past few months, the festival has been making news by releasing a set of dope artists who will be performing at the NOLA-based festival. ASAP Rocky will be headlining along with EDM act Bassnector, but there are so many dope artists performing that your head will explode. Don’t worry though, you good with us. So here’s a few artists to look at for at Buku Music + Art Project.
Run The Jewels
Ever since the duo dropped their first project together back in 2013, Run The Jewels have been giving the rap game a run for its money (no pun intended). RTJ, which comprises of ATL rapper Killer Mike and Brooklyn’s own El-P, has an aggressive sound that is completely original to hip hop. They blend together the beautiful worlds of electronic music and hip hop to establish something that fits well only with them. With RTJ2 out and their popularity expanding into the commercial world, Run The Jewels might be a highly anticipated set to check out.
Lil Boosie (Boosie Badazz)
There’s nothing like an artist performing in his home state. There’s more energy from him and his fans, and the overall performance tend to jump to the next level. Not only is Boosie a big name in Louisiana’s rap scene, this might be the first official music festival the Baton Rouge rapper performed since his anticipated release from prison last year. With already a huge catalogue and his latest album Life After Deathrow out, expect Boosie Badazz to have an live ass set.
Raury
This ATLien has been referred to so many times in the past (even being one of The Odd Side’s best projects of 2014), that it’s no surprise that he would be on this list once we saw him listed. With so many skills from his vocals to rap skills, Raury breaks the boundaries of music. His project Indigo Child has taken listeners to another level of Atlanta has to offer in its music scene. Aside from his critically acclaimed album, Raury’s been showing up on a plethora of songs with dope artists. From The Neighbourhood to Gucci Mane, his unpredictable style of sound mixes with every talent he has collaborated with. “Cigarette Song” and “God’s Whisperer” may be Raury’s most popular cuts, but we get the feeling that his entire set will be far more than just that.
BADBADNOTGOOD x Ghostface Killah
BBNG may have been looming on the internet as a breath of fresh air in music. But when they teamed up with Ghostface Killah, the game was over. The collaboration resulted in Sour Soul being created, a project that consists of BBNG playing trippy live instrumentals that Ghostface Killah eventually destroys with his classic lyrical skills and raw New York attitude. Listening to Sour Soul the speaker sent chills through the spine, what will happen when they perform live? Euphoria may be a probable outcome.
ILoveMakonnen
We get it, a lot of people love this ATL rapper for his catchy psychedelic banger “Tuesday”. But don’t let that be the only reason why you need to need to check out ILoveMakonnen’s set. From “Maneuvering” to “Wishing You Well”, this OVO artist has a lot dope bangers under his belt right now. Whether you believe it or not, his odd vocals and heavy-hitting beats will attract you over to his set. Don’t wait til’ the last song to go see Makonnen, because you will be missing some songs to turn up to while you wait for your next set.
Pell
Before Pell’s set was officially announced at this year’s Buku Project, we didn’t have any clue what he had to offer. Fortunately for us, curiosity definitely shifted that unawareness into excitement. Pell’s project Floating While Dreaming was a unique project that is nothing like what you’d expect. The New Orleans rapper’s style of raps and production comes together to establish a pretty odd concept with a trippy ass sound to reinforce it. We look forward to hear “The Never” live this weekend.
Hudson Mohawke
After his next level presence in Kanye’s production for Yeezus, HudMo has to be considered one of the producer/DJ’s on the forefront of new age sound in Hip Hop. This Scotland native has put together smooth hip hop beats as one half of the duo Heralds of Change, but it’s songs like “Overnight” and “Thunder Bay” that really showcases the style that comes with his talent. HudMo also put in work with Lunice as production duo TNGHT. The song HudMo recently released was “Chimes”, but there’s a chance he’ll play some new tracks along with some serious past tracks during his performance. Keep your fingers crossed for a new TNGHT track……..hopefully.
Big Freedia
Bounce music is a sub-genre is big in the south, especially in the state of Louisiana. So when it was announced that Big Freedia would be performing this year, it was no surprise. With that being said, the Bounce Queens’ performance at Buku will be like Chuck Brown performing in Washington, DC just due to the fact that her music is the sound of the state. Also, if you’re not in to the world of Bounce music, you have to understand that there’s A LOT of twerking that comes with it. At AfroPunk Fest in 2013, Freedia brought several women on stage and all of them were twerking in front of live audience. If that happened in New York, be very afraid (and excited) about what’s going to happen during Freedia’s performance in the Bounce state.
Mr. Carmack
Mr. Carmack has been showing up a lot on the Soulection radio show recently. The young proucer’s music has been playing on the show as he performed at different places across the globe, from Africa to France. Carmack’s name showing up on the official was a surprise, but this dude is going to have a dope set. Many have put Carmack’s style of EDM in the sub-genre of Trap, which kind of sucks because his latest creations have taken a tremendous step from where he was a year ago. Can’t wait to hear him drop some fire during his set.
Lil B
It would make no sense making this list without adding the Based God. Whether you’d let Lil B F*ck your chick or not, you can’t take away the crazy fanbase that he has, neither can you imagine how crazy his concerts get. Take away all the criticism about how he can’t rap “lyrically”, and just go to his show to turn up. We’re just gonna leave it at that….