Bonnaroo 2018 Artist Spotlight: Topaz Jones

As we’ve been doing for the past several years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorites acts from from Bonnaroo‘s impressive 2018 lineup. As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, or most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. Though we’ll be jumping around, we’re loosely working our way through by day, and we’ll also be bringing you some special features and longer guides along the way, to help you plan your weekend before the fest. While these previews won’t span every performer, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and keep reading to learn more in our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight…

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Raised in New Jersey by a musically inclined, Harvard scholar, Holistic doctor, social activist mother and a ’70s and ’80s funk musician father, Topaz Jones, born George Jones, developed both an early affinity for classic funk and soul, as well as pop, hip hop, and the contemporary sounds of his youth (notably, he started a “boy band” with childhood friends, and released his first “mixtape” at a mere eight years old). An avid fan musically well-versed, retro-checking, and unique hip hop acts like Outkast, Jones, a graduate of NYU (and a social activism and music business scholar in his secondary school years), began making waves in the hip hop world with his 2014 effort The Honeymoon Suite, finding further, more widespread acclaim for 2016’s Arcade and some excellent more recent singles.

At only 25, Topaz Jones has already developed a reputation for crafting personal, poetic, and expansive music that feels true to his retro funk roots, fusing a sort of adventurous, bold Afrofuturism with a more modern, honed, and intellectual flavor of hip hop, akin to but not quite like Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and the aforementioned Outkast. While certainly more heavy on hip hop in some years than others, Bonnaroo has maintained a pretty good track record lately in nabbing interesting, substantive, up and coming rappers carving a niche outside of the mainstream (you definitely won’t hear an ounce of trap in Jones’ sound). Set to close down the Who Stage at the fest’s first night, Topaz Jones is an exciting find you’ll want to make a must-see.

LISTEN | “Winona” ft. Pell