BREAKING: SPRING WEEKEND LINEUP ANNOUNCED

A statement by the Brown Concert Agency: Introducing Spring Weekend 2017 — a line-up bursting with so much talent, energy, and power that a little bit slipped out early. But there’s plenty more where that came from. This year we set out with a very particular goal — to use our position of privilege to disrupt the disparities in the music industry and use our platform to feature artists who identify as women and people of color. We are under no illusion that this is a perfect or sweeping anecdote — we simply saw the opportunity to change something within our control and took it.https://vimeo.com/209327423 Friday, April 28th Princess NokiaPrincess Nokia is a collaborative duo formed mainly by Destiny Nicole Frasqueri (also known as “Wavy Spice”) and OWWWLS, a New York based DJ. Their genre is hard to define, although it’s been called Afro-Nuyorican (New York Puerto Rican) independent alternative hip hop and R&B. Destiny first achieved international recognition with her singles “Bitch, I’m Posh” and “YAYA”, the latter bringing her acclaim amongst other queer artists such as Mykki Blanco. Princess Nokia’s most notable songs are “Nokia,” “Versace Hottie,”  and “Dragons.” Empress OfBorn Lorely Rodriguez, Empress Of derives her name from a serendipitous tarot card reading in which the empress card was drawn first. Her genre has been described as dream pop and alternative R&B, often done in Spanish to reflect her Spanish-Honduran heritage. Empress Of is best known for her single “Woman is a Word” and “How do you do it”, the latter of which is off her debut album, Me. Young ThugYoung Thug’s performance at Spring Weekend is surprising to absolutely no one at Brown. He slipped up in early February making a Facebook event for a Providence concert, which in theory should have given you time to know a socially appropriate number of songs. His most famous song is “pick up the phone,” with Travis Scott, off of his most recent album Jeffery. Young Thug is also a rapper appropriately “woke” for Brown. In a campaign video for Calvin Klein he said, “I feel like there’s no such thing as gender.” Pitchfork also praised Jeffery for how Thug is “constantly balancing opposing forces: masculine and feminine, light and dark, playful and humorless, pirouetting on a razor’s edge at all times.” Check out “Stoner,” “Danny Glover,” and “Best Friend” to get a sense of his range and style. Saturday, April 28th WhatCheer? BrigadeWhat Cheer? Brigade is back! This is low-key the greatest part of Spring Weekend so get excited for this 19-piece brass band to grace us with its absurdly fun presence. And bring your dancing shoes!  Cherry GlazerrCherry Glazerr is an indie rock trio started by 15-year-old front woman Clementine Creevy in 2012. The groups relies mainly on guitar, bass, and drums, making them a standout fromSpring Weekend’s largely electronic lineup. Creevy throws socials issues into her songs, saying she sings about “women having to create space for themselves – politically, economically, and socially,” in an interview with Billboard. Their newest album Apocalipstick received high praise from Pitchfork, calling the band “sexy, juvenile, catchy, and above all, simply great rock’n’roll.” “Told You I’d Be With the Guys,” and “Sip O’ Poison” highlight the emotional range of the young band. AlunaGeorgeBritish electro-pop duo AlunaGeorge is probably best-known for their viral collaboration with DJ Snake, “You Know You Like It,” which has racked up almost 250 million plays on Spotify. Their work with other popular artists like Disclosure have distinguished them as major players in the alt-pop scene. The duo has released two albums, both of which showcase their dreamy, futuristic style. Erykah BaduErykah Badu is a Grammy award winning R&B artist from Dallas Texas. She has been releasing music since her first album, Baduizm, which went triple platinum in 1997.  In 2000 Erykah was nominated for two Grammys and won for Best Rap performance by a Duo or Group. She has since received three BET awards, another Grammy, and an MTV Video Music award. She has released music with Common and founded the Sugar Water Festival along with Queen Latifah and Jill Scott. Erykah has been referred to as the "first woman of neo soul", which is a genre that is similar to soul and R&B, but distinct for its unconventional sound. Check out the Brown Concert Agency's Website for more info.Images via, via, via, via, via, via, via