“What is Banji?” I asked myself as I read an email from Babes announcing Saturday’s event in Secret Project Robot. The event caught my interest especially because it comes from the person that conceived Bushwig, takes place at the same space and, as Babes told me, is kind of a pre-roll for the upcoming reincarnation of Bushwig. In the end I did what every person in the 21st century would do – I googled it. After weeding through entries about dinosaurs and small villages in Iran, I found Sharaya-J’s newest single called “BANJI,” which stands for Be Authentic Never Jeopardize Individuality. I thought I understood, but when I talked to Simon he told me that it wasn’t quite that.
“If you are young, queer and making art or music, you are probably banji,” Babes told me in a phone call. From there, everything unravelled. This Saturday, May 11th, Secret Project Robot will be sprinkled with banji magic in a celebration of DIY, queer, bands and BBQ. And yes, those four words are in the same sentence and will all be in the same place. Merrie Cherry, who may or may not perform, will be serving the BBQ as Brooklyn’s #1 Banji Queen. Other performances will include: TEETH (an experimental dance/post-pop band), Geneva Jacuzzi (an international woman of mystery), Bubbles (a synth-pop band), and Abdu Ali (a dandy-like rapper from Baltimore who mixes poetry with Baltimore club music and ballroom). So banji.
Babes will welcome us to this celebration, and Merrie Cherry will feed us some BBQ. Because…you know…they are BANJI. With my question about banji answered, one last popped up in my head: Where else will you have a drag queen serve you BBQ while bands play electronic music?
For more info and RSVP on Facebook.