Collaborating with Brooklyn Brewery and Ferdydurke, Section 8’s annual Brooklyn Block Party rolls around once more with numerous artists hitting the stage including eclectic international-headliner Nitty Scott flying in all the way from NYC to bless our ears and souls.
Melburnians from near and far can head down to Tattersalls Lane on February 18 for a 12-hour, free-entry rager showcasing the Afro-Latino diaspora from Melbourne and New York.
Along with live music from multiple acts, there will also be DJs, live visuals, and a Little Hop pop-up taco shop to pair up with some amazing cocktails and beers brought to us by Brooklyn Brewery. Nitty Scott will take the stage along with some phenomenal local artists including the likes of Queen P, Cris Gamble, IJALE and many more, and there will be visuals by Lava Brain, at both Section 8 and Ferdydurke.
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“I’m hyped to see EVERYBODY!” Nitty said.
“I can’t say I’m too familiar with the obvious talent going on, but that’s why this entire trip is such an opportunity for me. It’s so rewarding to travel and meet, witness and work with new people who do fire shit.
“As an artist, I’m constantly adding to this network of beautiful, creative beings in every corner of the world that inspire me like crazy. I’m just feeling blessed to vibe out and share a stage with what I can tell is a dope very line-up.”
The 2023 Brooklyn Block Party hopes to demonstrate the large diasporic culture we currently have in Melbourne, with a distinct reference to the king of cultural diversity, New York City.
Performing in Havana, London, Vienna, and Tokyo (just to name a few), Nitty explains that she is constantly inspired and delineates her music in three words: introspective, kaleidoscopic, and radical.
“I draw inspiration from everyone on this planet. The collective, the ones I know, the ones I don’t know, the ones who fascinate me, the ones I despise, the ones who lived before me, the ones who exist with me, the ones who will live after me. Us.”
The 2023 Brooklyn Block Party reaches out to celebrate the Afro-Latin Diaspora with a focus on celebrating the community and culture of this particular group in NYC.
“The diasporic cultures of NYC made Nitty Scott. I’ve been so moved by my existence there that I based what I think is my best album to date, Creature! – the project tells the musical story of La Negrita in Wonderland, this hood feminist version of Alice in Wonderland,” Nitty said.
In 2017, Nitty Scott – alongside Afropop artist Zap Mama – published a short film that accompanies the second track on the Creature! album by the name of La Diaspora, which follows a journey through tribal lands.
“In my notes on the concept, I wrote: ‘it’s piña coladas in the concrete jungle … island roots on city stoops … the urban Tropicana. La Negrita falls down the rabbit hole (a manhole in The Bronx), and lands in a pre-colonized dream world where she is free to come in contact with her indigenous roots,’” Nitty says about the track.
“I also have a BLACKARITA visual that hasn’t dropped yet, an ode to Afro-Latina Bronx girl life; it’s all bodegas, ice cream trucks, the cuchifrito and old ladies selling elotes, dice on the corner, LA BOTANICA, sidewalk candle memorials, 4 train type shit. All my Nuyoricans know waddup!”
Making countless references to her culture and the idea of a pre-colonial past, Nitty Scott nurtures feelings of a safe space to those who may feel as if the new materialistic hip-hop culture isn’t reaching them in the way it may others.
“I think I’m always promoting my convictions and representing the communities I come from; my work is fundamentally message-driven, so people literally come to the Nitty Scott show to hear that voice and also feel heard themselves,” Nitty said.
“There are definitely current events in my life, the world and within our culture that I could see myself touching on [at the Brooklyn Block Party] if I feel compelled to, but I always let the energy of each performance take me where it wants to.”
Nitty Scott has joined forces with some big names in the game, including Kendrick Lamar, Joelle Ortiz, as well as many others. Featuring on Jamila Wood’s second album LEGACY! LEGACY! in 2019, Nitty recalls the experience of creating Sonia with Jamila being that of a challenging one, recalling how she “couldn’t even pen a few bars without crying”. Yet to this day, praises how the song has continued to impact her positively both in her songwriting and day-to-day life.
“My favourite verse I ever wrote was on Jamila Wood’s Sonia. When my brilliant libra sister hit me with the song, I was really taken back by how deeply it resonated with my spirit because I was coincidentally recovering from an agonizing breakup at the time,” she explains.
“Writing the verse gave me a safe, empowering space to unpack my personal reel of generational trauma, intimate partner violence & heartache. The whole thing was therapy in itself, pushing me to face & process some complicated emotions, affirm myself & honour my ancestors all at once.
“The way that so many other women saw themselves in those lines was the icing on the cake! When we performed it on tour, there were women crying every word out loud like it was their truth, too. And that shit is incredible.”
The verse is as follows.
“Listen, nigga
My abuela ain’t survive several trips around the sun
So I could give it to somebody’s undeserving son
This pussy don’t pop for you, booty don’t bop for you
Never owe none, belong to no one
Now I only trust patterns, not apologies
First date questions, what’s your ideologies?
Do you love yourself?
Are you healing your trauma?
What’s your concept of wealth?
Do you check on yo’ mama?”
The Brooklyn Block Party will run across both Section 8 and Ferdydurke on Saturday February 18, from 3PM – 3AM. Find all the info in the FB event here.
