Underground System

If you’ve seen Underground System live, then you’ve witnessed the ensemble’s larger than life presence. One of the most dynamic bands to emerge from New York City in recent years, Underground System continues to reinvent their brand of global dance music, remaining a force determined to recreate, redefine, and reconstruct. The journey from humble beginnings taking the purist approach to interpreting Fela Kuti’s musical style, to an authentically original, internationally touring indie-dance band is a story just beginning to be told. The production and release of 2018’s debut LP What Are You (Soul Clap Records) proved to be the springboard that set the group in motion. Re-contextualizing and breathing fresh life into elements of Afrobeat, dance punk, disco, and electronic music, the album was received with international acclaim. Attention from national outlets such as Billboard, NPR/PRI, and word-of-mouth enthusiasm within their local NYC community kickstarted the band's journey abroad, including gigs at French tastemaking festival Transmusicales, Eurockeennes de Belfort, Fusion Festival in Germany, and a headlining slot at Laurent Garnier’s Festival Yeah!