Spotify Presents: Who We Be Live 2019
The UK’s leading Rap, Grime, R&B and Afrobeat Playlist returns to the stage at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse
Friday 22nd November 2019, O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
AITCH AND TION WAYNE CONFIRMED
(London, U.K. 14th October 2018) - Spotify today announced that its award-winning show, Who We Be Live, will return for a fourth time and head to O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester for another unmissable event. The show on 22nd November follows the landmark success of Spotify’s third sold-out instalment of Who We Be Live last year. The 2018 Alexandra Palace show saw unmissable performances from AJ Tracey, French Montana, Raye, NSG and more.
Celebrating the very best in Rap, Grime, Afrobeat and R&B from the UK and beyond, the not-to-be-missed event will head to the north for the very first time. The move will bring incredible musical talent from across the UK to fans, and champion one of Manchester’s most exciting new talents. Confirmed for the line up so far are: Aitch and Tion Wayne who together boast more than 303million combined UK streams - with more exciting acts to be announced.
Who We Be is curated by Spotify’s in-house urban music team, led by Safiya Lambie-Knight, and is one of Spotify’s most listened-to playlists in the U.K., with over half a million followers.
Safiya Lambie-Knight, Artist and Label Marketing Lead, Urban at Spotify, said: “We’re really excited to bring Who We Be Live to Manchester for the very first time and with an incredible line up. The UK has some of the most exciting artists in the rap, grime, afrobeat and R&B genres at the moment and we’re set to bring some of the very best performers to the stage this November.”
The Who We Be playlist has grown substantially since it’s launch and is now the UK’s biggest Rap, Grime and R&B Playlist, with more than half a million (549,000+) followers. 2017 saw the launch of Who We Be Live - Spotify's first-ever branded UK show. Over 10,000 music fans filled North London’s Alexandra Palace to witness a renowned live show with some of the hottest urban acts from the UK and the US. The same year also saw the playlist expand to an even larger audience with the launch of the Spotify Originals podcast, Who We Be TALKS_, hosted by acclaimed DJ, DJ Semtex. In June 2018 Spotify announced that Who We Be Live would not only return to London but also take place in Birmingham and be further supported by a second series of the popular podcast. For 2019, Who We Be continued to evolve with the creation of Who We Be Sessions, a songwriting camp for artists creating music within the genre as well as the first ever live show in Manchester.
Limited Spotify pre-sale tickets will be available at 9am BST on Wednesday 16th October. General tickets will be on sale at 9am on Friday 18th October from whowebe.com
The artists
Aitch
2019 has been the year of Manchester born rapper Aitch. Dropping career-defining singles such as Taste (Make It Shake), Buss Down and collaborating with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Jaykae, Young T & Bugsey, Aitch has cemented himself as one of the UK’s most exciting talents.
Tion Wayne
Having just celebrated his 9th year in music, North London based rapper Tion Wayne boasts a number of projects from mixtapes to EP’s and has over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Collaborating with NSG on one of the most popular hits of Summer 2018 and releasing his album T Wayne’s World 3, Wayne showcases why he is a key player in the UK music scene.