Bonnaroo Band of the Day: Innanet James

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 2017 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-reccomened 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 about our Bonnaroo Band of the Day…

LEARN

Based in the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virgina) area, rising young rapper Innanet James, whose debut mixtape, Quebec Place, arrived just last fall, is heating up fast, and that’s clearly evidenced by the fact that he landed a Thursday spot on Bonnaroo’s new EDM and hip hop geared tent The Other, bypassing a more typical Club Stage spot for new artists. Raised on r&b, funk, and hip hop in a musical family, James began writing rhymes in elementary school, inspired by the likes of Wu Tang Clan and 50 Cent, but it wasn’t until first hearing Lil Wayne’s 2007 mixtape Da Drought 3 that he began thinking about making hip hop more seriously.

After an on-again off-again relationship with music, beating a prescription pill addiction that nearly cost him his life, dabbling in school for graphic design, and facing an ultimatum from his mother to figure things out or get out, James got more serious about his art again a couple years ago at 20, and released his official debut single, the empowering and substantive “Black,” in the summer of 2015. A stream of buzz and more singles followed, culminating in the critically lauded release of Quebec Place last fall, which channels a thoroughly modern delivery and sharp, smart lyrical style set to sweeping production with flairs of jazz and soul – an essential listen for rap fans if it’s not yet on your radar. Aside from Chance, Bonnaroo’s top line is a little light on hip hop this year, so we’re glad to see such exciting talent like Innanet James holding up the undercard; give him a spin below!

LISTEN | “Black”