IFE Comes to BRIC House, 3/29

BRIC presents the public New York City debut of IFÉ, a bold new project from Puerto Rico-based, African American drummer/producer/singer Mark Underwood, aka Otura Roso Mun (March 29). An Ifá priest in the Yoruba religion, Mun has been a vanguard artist in the Puerto Rican music scene for years, with his powerful synthesis of electronic sound and Afro-Caribbean language, and his production of albums and songs for many of PR's most important musical voices, including iconic reggae group Cultura Profética. New York's 'immigrant beat' innovators M.A.K.U SoundSystem kick off the evening with their explosive blend of traditional Latin rhythms and gritty urban sensibility.

In 1999, Outra Mun moved to Puerto Rico in an effort to, as he told Noisey, "reconstruct [his] life from the language on up" following a family tragedy. He learned Spanish and established himself as a hip-hop DJ in San Juan, while immersing himself in Yoruba practices (and a series of initiations in the Ifá part of Yoruba tradition, brought to the Caribbean from West Africa and sustained-though once imperiled-through diasporic and colonial violence) and developing a love of dancehall and Cuban Rumba music. "I started the ÌFÉ process from the word itself," he continues, in Noisey. "The word in Yoruba means love, and it also means expansion. And if I was going to talk about love or expansion- particularly expansion-I felt that whatever I was going to do or to say had to have the impact of modern music, cause I love what technology can do right now... The framework is what is ancient...It's the musical framework that sounds like it could have come from 100 years ago, but it's being expressed with a different alphabet."

From its opening track to its closing prayer, IFÉ's critically acclaimed debut album, III+IIII (pronounced Eji-Ogbe),conveys a deep sense of spiritual intent, a sureness in its voice and purpose while maintaining the vulnerability that the most intimate and honest of conversations always require. Serene and floating at times, determined, erotic, and raw at others, it evokes the ground that's been traveled, and the urgency and uncompromising fierceness needed to meet the day. NPR named it one of the best albums of 2017, and Felix Contreras (co-host of NPR's Alt.Latino) wrote on the site, "My first listen to ÌFÉ's debut album...was such an incredibly special moment that I wish I could repeat it over and over...[It] is a world conjured by artists who see beyond the horizon."

Tickets may be purchased online at BRICartsmedia.org or via phone at 877.987.6487. The Box Office at BRIC House is open on performance days, one hour prior to the event. BRIC House is located at647 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn. BRIC House is open weekdays and Saturday at 8am and Sundays at 10am.

The Hurricane Maria Community Relief and Recovery Fund (#MariaFund) will be at BRIC on March 29 to provide concert attendees with info on how to help with the ongoing crisis in Puerto Rico. For more info: Mariafund.org.

About BRIC

BRIC is the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. We present and incubate work by artists and media-makers who reflect the diversity that surrounds us. BRIC programs reach hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Our main venue, BRIC House, offers a public media center, a major contemporary art exhibition space, two performance spaces, a glass-walled TV studio, and artist work spaces.

Some of BRIC's most acclaimed programs include the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival in Prospect Park, several path-breaking public access media initiatives, including BRIC TV, and a renowned contemporary art exhibition series. BRIC also offers education and other vital programs at BRIC House and throughout Brooklyn.

In addition to making cultural programming genuinely accessible, BRIC is dedicated to providing substantial support to artists and media makers in their efforts to develop work and reach new audiences.

BRIC is unusual in both presenting exceptional cultural experiences and nurturing individual expression. This dual commitment enables us to most effectively reflect New York City's innate cultural richness and diversity.

Learn more at BRICartsmedia.org.

Photo credit: Joa Rodríguez