Yeah! Here they are! The first 50+ acts who will be performing at the Kulturbrauerei from 30th August to 1st September 2023.
We are very much looking forward to Honduran-American synth-pop musician Empress Of, Israeli indie stars Lola Marsh, Nigerian »Baby Riddim« Afrobeat breakthrough Fave, Drag Syndrome as the world’s only professional drag ensemble consisting of performers with Down’s syndrome, and electro-pop duo Junior Boys from Canada and The Düsseldorf Düsterboys from Essen. They will be joined by Berlin acts such as Prince Emrah, a performance artist who captivates the audience with drag and belly dancing; songwriter (Ariana) Zustra, who is also known as a journalist; and Mulay, who brings an experimental twist to R&B. Hip-hop is represented by the likes of Hamburg’s conscious rapper Ansu; Turkish-Kurdish-Armenian, rising star BRKN from Berlin-Kreuzberg; Cologne’s Albi X, who transforms his Congolese roots into danceable Afro-trap; and the up-and-coming female rap duo pape from Offenbach.
The eternal coolness of Fuffifufzich (this time with a commissioned work) and Kreuzberg rapper Wa22ermann will once again electrify the Pop-Kultur audiences who wildly cheered on their performances last year at the Çaystube. The safer space curated by Yeşim Duman is both a performative installation and, as always, unpretentious, free of charge and in solidarity mode, featuring exciting new acts such as queer Australian electro-pop singer Banoffee and genre-defiant singer-songwriter EVÎN.
Also contributing commissioned works, created especially for the festival, where they will be receiving their world premieres: The 40-member choir/performance project A Song For You will embrace you musically and interactively with their powerful voices, vogueing and ballet. They oscillate between neo-soul, hip-hop and R&B, and their commissioned work will unite various themes that are present at Pop-Kultur at large: celebrating the individual in the collective and developing it into a new form – togetherness as a space of possibility that also means refuge in the face of real, external crises. Nichtseattle aka Katharina Kollmann is also bringing a musical, social engagement: »Haus aus Papier« will be performed with a Pankow local choir, its members aged between 20 and 70, whose voices the »Kommunistenlibido« singer Kollmann will put into a refreshing, new context. In his commissioned work, Garagen Uwe aka Jannis Kleiß makes a compelling case for forming community by hanging out in a smoky, familial setting. For this, he invites Stella Sommer, Drangsal, Max Rieger and Charlotte Brandi to take turns on the cosy garage sofa – and audience members can take a seat as well.
Here are all the acts confirmed so far:
21 downbeat / Aili / Aksak Maboul / Albi X / Anika (CW) / Ansu / ARXX / ARY / A Song For You (CW) / Banoffee / BRKN / C’est Karma / Casey MQ / Codeine / Crack Cloud / cumgirl8 / Das Kinn / Dina Summer / Drag Syndrome / Empress Of / ERRORR / EVÎN / Fave / Fishbach / Free Love / Fuffifufzich (CW) / Garagen Uwe (CW) / Get Jealous / Indigo Sparke/ J. Vague / Junior Boys / Karl Vento / Lola Marsh / Meagre Martin / mui zyu / Mulay / Nashi44 / Nichtseattle (CW) / pape / Prince Emrah / Robert Kretzschmar / Rosa Anschütz / Sofie Royer / Sophia Blenda / Stella Sommer / The Düsseldorf Düsterboys / Tigre Bleu / Wa22ermann / Walter Astral / Zainab Lax / Zustra
The next batch of names will be revealed in a few weeks.
And before we all see each other at the Kulturbrauerei at the end of August, we have two more dates for your calendars:
On Thursday, 27th April, applications for Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs will open via nachwuchs.pop-kultur.berlin. So if you are a young musician, producer, DJ or otherwise active in the broad field of pop music, whether in management, booking or with your own label, as a video director, PR representative or journalist, this is your opportunity to exchange ideas and connect with movers and shakers from business, politics and the music industry.
Our jury for Pop-Kultur lokal has met and selected some great events by Berlin organisers. The first event will take place on Thursday, 18th May in the Backsteinboot on Eiswerder Island: »Sonic Boatany by Unrush« – an ambient mini-festival on the bank holiday, which means an afternoon and evening of atmospheric, experimental music in the form of concerts and DJ sets, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The event will be family-friendly and accessible, inviting you to linger, relax and listen actively or passively to the soundscapes. The event is intended to heighten our awareness of our sonic environment while also promoting communication among those present. The line-up consists of Berlin-based artists who are active in the field of ambient music, including JakoJako, Irakli, Mareena, Banu, Fortunes Brine and KMRU.
We look forward to seeing you at Pop-Kultur 2023!
*zzgl. VVK-Gebühr