Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: slowthai

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

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, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, 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 read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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Funneling a punk spirit and politically and socially charged message into his ferocious hip hop and grime sound, U.K. rapper slowthai has become one of England’s coolest underground exports over the last several years. Hailing from Northampton and born Tyron Frampton, the MC got his nickname “Slow Ty” due to his slow and drawled manner of speaking. He began freestyle rapping and skipping school to record as a teen, before beginning to take his career ambitions more seriously and attending college for music. Critically-acclaimed, especially in the U.K., and somewhat controversial (he once performed with a fake severed head of Boris Johnson at an awards ceremony, among other scandals), slowthai began releasing music around 2016, picking up steam for early singles, EPs, and collabs, before breaking out more broadly with 2019 debut Nothing Great About Britain. While, like a lot of grime rappers, he hasn’t become quite as mainstream in America yet, slowthai has received numerous awards and nominations, as well as commercial success, back home, and has collaborated with some huge artists like Gorillaz, Flume, Disclosure, A$AP Rocky, Denzel Curry, James Blake, and Dominic Fike. Blending genres and renowned for a wild and unpredictable live show, the fast-rising artist is informed by his small town upbringings and fueled by issues of race, social inequity, self-worth, and politics (Brexit, in particularly, was a big thematic focus of his first LP), all of which finds a balance with some more vulnerable and self-reflective themes on last year’s bombastic sophomore effort ‘TYRON.’ For hip hop fans looking for something a little different, slowthai promises to be one of the most unique (and wildest) sets of Bonnaroo weekend!

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