Veteran party crew Astral People is launching an eclectic new day festival of hip-hop, jazz and R\u2019n\u2019B, featuring London jazz quintet Ezra Collective, Grammy-nominated rapper Freddie Gibbs and local star Sampa the Great. <\/p>\n
Astral People is one of Sydney\u2019s most respected and enduring promoters. In recent years it\u2019s thrown parties headlined by names as diverse as Detroit techno legend Carl Craig, hip-hop icons De La Soul, IDM luminary Flying Lotus and fast-rising DJ Yung Singh.<\/p>\n
Now, after 15 years into the game, the group is launching Move My Way, a daytime Sydney and Melbourne festival about \u201ccomfort, connection and community\u201d. It\u2019ll spotlight rap, hip-hop, jazz and R\u2019n\u2019B acts from the UK and elsewhere, with a smaller focus on contemporary club sounds. <\/p>\n
Headlining is London jazz quintet Ezra Collective, which has achieved phenomenal success of late, winning the Mercury Prize in 2023 and Group of the Year at the 2025 Brit Awards, plus collaborating with Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith, Loyle Carter and Sampa The Great.<\/p>\n
Seven-piece band Kokoroko, also from London, will bring an infectious mix of West African disco, highlife, Afrobeats, neo-soul, bossa nova and funk that shows off the broad range of influences they\u2019re exposed to within the city\u2019s numerous black diasporas.<\/p>\n
Other acts coming from the English capital are R\u2019n\u2019B singer-producer Qendresa; Tash LC, with a high-energy set of UK bass, kuduro, gqom and other African club sounds; and prolific radio DJ Jamz Supernova. Also on the bill are Worldwide FM host Luke Una, a Mancunian who\u2019s been spinning jazz and soul for 40 years, and NTS radio host Coco Mar\u00eda, an Amsterdam-based Mexican DJ who specialises in Latin American rhythms. <\/p>\n
From across the pond (i.e. the US), we\u2019ll have singer-percussionist duo GENA (Liv.e and Karriem Riggins); Grammy-nominated rapper Freddie Gibbs, who last year dropped album Alfredo 2 with influential producer the Alchemist; and New York-based DJ and multi-instrumentalist Takuya Nakamura, known for fusing live instrumentation with club sounds. <\/p>\n
The home contingent is headed up by Zambian Australian rapper Sampa the Great, young crooner and instrumentalist Xmunashe, and Fijian and Aboriginal Australian rapper-producer Miles Nautu.\u00a0Fitzroy\u2019s Northside Records is also curating a local funk and soul line-up: Northside founder Chris Gill, plus Mike Gurrieri, El Fuentes, Emelyne, Lori, Mothafunk and Stuckey.<\/p>\n
Tickets are on sale from 12pm on May 20.<\/p>\n