Most summer rap festivals cost hundreds of dollars, happen in a field in New Jersey, and get booked by an algorithm. MIKE’s Young World is the opposite, and on Saturday, July 11, it takes over Herbert Von King Park in Bed-Stuy for free.
If you are not deep in underground hip-hop: MIKE is Michael Jordan Bonema, a Brooklyn rapper and producer and a co-founder of the [sLUms] collective, one of the most influential crews in New York’s online-rooted underground. Other rappers cite him as an influence, and he has spent years building a festival around his own values.
Young World started in 2019 as a multi-day event at the small Abrons Art Center in lower Manhattan. It has grown, in the words of the City Parks Foundation, “into the sprawling block party it’s become today, taking over a sizable portion of Bed-Stuy’s largest park.” On pricing he has been direct, telling Rolling Stone: “You shouldn’t have to pay mad bread for a good experience.”
This year he is backing that up with the bill. The 2026 lineup, per the City Parks Foundation, is “Max B / Thirteendegrees° / ERISTHEPLANET / SALIMATA / Niontay / Black Noi$e / MIKE with The Band of the Century,” with Harlem legend Max B headlining. It runs from 4:30 to 9 p.m. The result is a curated underground lineup in a public park, free to anyone in the neighborhood.
A free festival in Herbert Von King Park means the kids who live on the block, the heads who have followed MIKE since the [sLUms] days, and people who wander over because they hear music can all stand in the same crowd. Getting in costs a train ride and an RSVP.
Young World is Saturday, July 11, from 4:30 to 9 p.m. at Herbert Von King Park in Bed-Stuy. It is free, but you have to RSVP online ahead of time to get in, so do that now rather than showing up cold. Bring water, bring a friend who has never heard of half the lineup, and go see what a rap festival looks like when the person throwing it cares more about the music than the gate.
Featured image: Bushwick Daily image
