Yeah, yeah, winter is coming. But you know where it’s never cold? Inside a crowded club with the city’s best rock, hip hop, pop, and jazz blasting through a top-shelf sound system. Take that, winter!
Dâm Funk at Baby’s All Right
DJ indie darling and West Coast producer Dâm-Funk’s genre-blind approach to remixing means that you’re equally likely to be familiar with his work from collabs with Christine and the Queens, Snoop Dogg, Ariel Pink, Tyler the Creator, or simply his own deeply funky instrumental albums. This late-night Williamsburg gig, in support of the release of his newest EP, STFU II, is a major underplay and a rare opportunity to hear him in action at a smaller venue.
Details:
Baby’s All Right
146 Broadway, Williamsburg
Thursday, November 21
11 p.m.
$20
Young M.A at Bowery Ballroom
Brooklyn-born rapper Young M.A’s 2016 breakout viral hit, “Ooouuu,” went triple-platinum and raised the expectations on the lesbian MC’s eventual debut release. Three years and dozens of talk-show and reality-show appearances later, she’s finally touring on the back of the long-delayed but critically embraced Herstory in the Making, a collection of throwback New York hip hop.
Details:
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey Street (between Bowery and Chrystie Street), Lower East Side
Monday, November 25
Doors open at 7 p.m.
$25
The Ally Coalition 6th Annual Talent Show
As part of a yearly benefit supporting multiple LGBTQ+ youth organizations, including NYC’s own New Alternatives, Town Hall will host the Ally Coalition’s heavily star-studded talent show, hosted by celebrity siblings Jack Antonoff (of the bands Fun and Bleachers) and fashion designer Rachel Antonoff. Attending performers include luminaries in the fields of comedy (including Mike Birbiglia, Roy Wood Jr., and Aparna Nancherla) and country (Jason Isbell and the Dixie Chicks), plus performances by Jack and several TBA celebrity surprises.
Details:
Town Hall
123 West 43rd Street (between Sixth Avenue and Broadway), Midtown
Thursday, December 12
7 p.m.
Tickets start at $65
DaBaby at Terminal 5
A mix of marketing savvy, lightning-fast flow, and seemingly indefatigable hustle have made Southern rapper Jonathan L. Kirk, aka DaBaby, 2019’s biggest hip-hop success story. Following four years of self-released mixtapes and more than 100 guest features, DaBaby broke big this year with his double-platinum single, “Suge,” and his first Billboard No. 1 album, Kirk. DaBaby has built a reputation for high energy (and generally shirtless) live performances; for this victory lap at midtown’s Terminal 5, he’ll be joined by Interscope labelmate Stunna 4 Vegas and likely a few more surprise guests.
Details:
Terminal 5
610 West 56th Street (between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues), Midtown West
Thursday, December 12
8 p.m.
$50
Young World Music Festival
Un-Google-able NYC-based MC MIKE works in the margins of what used to be (sometimes derogatorily) known as backpack rap: introspective, lyrically complex, and doggedly noncommercial. That’s not to say he hasn’t amassed some influential fans, including the folks running the never risk-averse Abrons Arts Center, who have hired MIKE to curate the inaugural year of their three-day hip-hop culture festival, Young World. Performers scheduled to take part include up-and-coming, Internet-friendly rappers Quelle Chris, Baby Sosa, Sporting Life, and Maasai.
Details:
Abrons Arts Center
456 Grand Street (at Pitt and Willett Streets), Lower East Side
Friday, December 13–Sunday, December 15
5 p.m. each day
General admission tickets on a sliding scale, $6–$21
NY Winter Jazzfest Marathon
The annual New York Winter Jazzfest has become one of the world’s biggest and best showcases of what modern jazz has to offer. Its just-announced first wave of artists performing in the two-night, multivenue marathon includes Brazilian singer-songwriter and The Life Aquatic movie star Seu Jorge at Town Hall; more than forty drummers paying respect to the legacy of the immortal Art Blakey, organized by Revive Music; a selection of newcomer British jazz artists hosted by Gilles Peterson and curated by BBC Music and PRS Foundation at Le Poisson Rouge; and live sets with Bowie collaborator Donny McCaslin and Mark Guiliana, street buskers Hypnotic Brass Band Ensemble, a tribute to the late trumpeter Marcus Belgrave with Ron Carter and Sheila Jordan, hot jazz chanteuse Kat Edmonson, hip-hop fusion pioneer Kassa Overall, and hundreds of additional artists.
Details:
Multiple venues; visit website for more info
Friday, January 10 and Saturday January 11