Skepta has today revealed the full line-up for the inaugural Big Smoke Festival, the new one-day music event heading to Crystal Palace Park on Saturday 06 July 2024. The influential Mercury Prize-winning mogul has curated two stages personally, assembling a star-studded, multi-genre lineup of artists for an unmissable celebration of the music cultures he passionately drives forward.
Headlining the Big Smoke stage is Skepta with a full-scale festival show and his only UK performance of 2024. He will be joined by The Streets, Mahalia, JME, Lancey, K-Trap, Odumodublvck, The Den featuring Frisco, Flowdan, Sir Spyro, Infamousizak, Manga, Thafirst and a special guest to be announced. The Más Tiempo Stage will see huge sets from the biggest international names in house, amapiano and beyond with Loco Dice, Uncle Waffles, Syreeta, Kitty Amor and more. Tickets are on sale now, with payment plan options available, and fans are encouraged to purchase quickly to avoid disappointment via www.bigsmokefest.london and www.ticketmaster.co.uk. You can secure your ticket with a deposit of less than £20 and split the total cost of any ticket over 4 monthly payments.
Skepta says: “It’s good to give other people a space and platform to perform, and for us to step aside and let new talent come through. For me Big Smoke Festival is about building something and more doors opening. We’ve been thinking about what we can do to make a good festival and bring people together because right now everyone’s just on their phones, so how do we make people get off their phones and be immersed? Having a rap stage and a dance stage is setting us apart from everyone else, that’s our USP and I believe that this could be the London festival every summer.”
Skepta, award winning MC, producer, designer, director, and founding member of seminal British grime collective Boy Better Know, unveiled his new label Más Tiempo in 2022. Firmly rooted in the values of the UK’s thriving dance music community, Skepta and Más Tiempo have elevated the house music scene to new heights. Now returning to rap, Skepta recently released his new project 48 Hours and teased new track Gas Me Up, prior to Big Smoke Festival, which will be the only place to see Skepta perform in the UK in 2024.
The Streets, the highly celebrated producer, vocalist and DJ Mike Skinner recently released the critically acclaimed sixth album The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light and toured UK Everyman Cinemas with his self-directed debut feature film of the same name. The Streets’ enduring catalogue is an intrinsic park of UK music culture and inextricably linked to the dancefloor and is guaranteed to deliver an incredible set at Big Smoke.
Mike Skinner of The Streets says: “It’s so good to be heading back down to South London for a festival with a line up like this. I’m sure this is just the beginning for Big Smoke so we’re all excited to be part of it at the outset.”
Leicester singer Mahalia has rightly earned her a spot as one of the UK’s most exciting neo-soul and R&B artists. The BRIT, GRAMMY, Ivor Novello nominee and multiple MOBO award winner has been at the forefront of pop and R&B and her 2023 acclaimed album IRL saw her embark on her biggest UK and US tours to date.
Mahalia says: “I’m so excited I get to be a part of the first Big Smoke Festival! Sharing the stage with artists I already really love and look up to is always a dream come true.”
JME is the British MC who needs little introduction. A veteran and trailblazer in UK grime, London-born JME remained a pioneer throughout multiple decades, as co-founder of the crew and label Boy Better Know as well as part of the Meridian Crew along with his brother, Skepta. The enigmatic rapper Lancey is of the most unique and innovative voices coming out of the UK. Lancey’s music has turned heads around the world incorporating elements of drill, trap, and R&B characterized by a dark and brooding sound which has seen him garner a legion of fans. UK drill pioneer K-Trap is also set to ignite the Big Smoke Stage, showcasing his chart-topping hits and influential role in shaping the UK drill scene. Nigerian artist Odumodublvck is one of the most exciting artists coming out of the country’s capital. A pioneering voice of drill in Nigeria, his signature ‘Okporoko Rhythms’ take influence from grime, Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat, and progressive R&B. Founded by Frisco in 2015, The Den is a regular music night presenting pioneering artists to a live audience which has fast established itself as a must-see event for grime and UK rap fans.
The Más Tiempo stage will feature German DJ and electronic music producer Loco Dice, best known for his work in house, tech house, and legendary residencies at Ibiza’s Space and Hi Ibiza, as well as respective DJ sets from Jammer and Skepta throughout the day. South African amapiano superstar Uncle Waffles is heading to Crystal Palace Park and has become a global sensation at the forefront of the genre, thanks to her unique live sets and infectious energy. Authentic, fearless, inclusive that’s Syreeta. The HE.SHE.THEY. resident’s sets draw on chunky basslines and from a palette of house and techno having delighted dance floors, festivals and streams with the who’s who of dance music around the world, and now set for Big Smoke Festival alongside the trailblazing Kitty Amor, the first UK DJ from the African Electronic Music scene to play at Printworks. International DJ and producer HoneyLuv, Ossie, a DJ synonymous with forward thinking electronic productions and London’s foremost party starters the TheMenendez Brothers join the bill too.
Tickets are on sale now via www.bigsmokefest.london and www.ticketmaster.co.uk with payment plan options available. You can secure your ticket with a deposit of less than £20 and split the total cost of any ticket over 4 monthly payments.
