Beloved artist returns to curate second edition of Juneteenth celebration

New York, NY – Abrons Arts Center is thrilled to announce their second collaboration with the beloved rapper MIKE, who returns to curate a second edition of Sound, Sun, Pleasure, a free outdoor celebration featuring workshops, DJ sets and live music by an exciting lineup of artists, rappers, and producers. The event will be held in Abrons’ Amphitheater on Saturday, June 7.

MIKE, who has made as many waves in underground circles as he has through his critically acclaimed albums and tours with artists like Blood Orange and Earl Sweatshirt, draws from his extensive engagement with the city’s freshest talent to provide the community an unforgettable start to the summer. For this second edition, MIKE presents a range of sounds from hip-hop to bossa nova to dance, with musical performances from Quelle Chris, the Grammy-nominated rapper and producer; Alici, a Brazilian-American musician; and duendita, who returns to Abrons following her 2024 performance, Sound River, the result of her La Residencia artist residency. The event will also feature DJ sets from Lovie and Elise.

Sound, Sun, Pleasure II continues Abrons’ ongoing commitment with its Lower East Side community through performing arts, and cements the institution’s partnership with MIKE. In 2019, Abrons Arts Center hosted the first edition of Young World, MIKE’s annual festival which has since featured headliners like Slick Rick, Earl Sweatshirt, and Noname.

Free workshops in visual art, music, and dance will be held onsite prior to the concert, including:

Let’s Talk About Assemblage with Emily Manwaring

Let’s... is an artist talk and hands-on workshop with visual artist, Abrons Visual Artist AIRspace Residency alum, and Abrons Arts Education faculty member Emily Manwaring. The session will open with a conversation about Manwaring’s breathtaking body of work, and how she incorporates the sights, sounds and stories of New York City in her paintings. The discussion will be accompanied with a hands-on art-making activity, where you can create your own mixed-media piece by assembling found objects and exploring techniques shared by Manwaring.

Street Studio with Luss & Shara Lunon

What’s summer in New York City without hip hop? Taking inspiration from community open mics such as Legendary Cyphers and the Street Studios - join us for a music production workshop and open mic led by recording artist and Abrons Music Production faculty member, Luss, featuring experimental vocalist Shara Lunon. In this workshop geared towards artists, producers, rappers and vocalists of all levels, explore improvisational technique and using accessible music production tools such as Soundtrap to incorporate the sounds of NYC into your compositions live. The workshop will end in a collaborative open mic to set the stage for the musical performances in the festival.

House and Vogue with Eva & Karma

Join Abrons dance faculty Eva Bustamove (House) and guest artist Karma Stylez (Vogue) for a beginners workshop that offers a deep dive into the movement and social dance culture of New York City's LGBTQ+ ballroom scene. Whether you’re at the cookout, in the streets at Soul Summit, or sweating it out in the club, we got you covered!

More information available at https://www.abronsartscenter.org.

About MIKE

Over the years, MIKE has built a rock-solid catalog that, like the work of our best, has reflected the multidimensional truths of his life. He has chronicled the pain of losing his mother, he’s shown himself climbing out of a funk, and, in more recent history, he’s gotten more comfortable beating his chest about being a leader at the top of his food chain.

At just 26, his impact has ventured outside of his own music, platforming peers like Niontay, Sideshow and Jadasea through his 10K label and collective, and producing for the likes of Liv.e & KeiyaA as dj blackpower. He’s built one of the premiere events on New York’s musical calendar with his free Young World festival in Bed Stuy, which has brought together generational talents (Pete Rock, Earl Sweatshirt, Slick Rick, Noname) to celebrate his growing community with exclusively Black vendors and small businesses.

On MIKE’s newest album, Showbiz!, he sets out to strike the perfect balance between everything he’s done in his career thus far. He teeters more actively between moments of introspection, intoxicating self-confidence, and motivational conversations in his head, both thematically and sonically. There’s a seesaw effect, a clear sign that over the past few years of non-stop touring and ascending in his career, the rapper has felt a constant back-and-forth that he’s still trying to get a solid handle of.

“When I show up with my homies, show up at the show, show up to my family, it is all the same person but everything is definitely categorized in a certain way which, for myself, my goal is to bring all of those things into something more cohesive,” he says of the dilemma.