Boxout Festival took over Birmingham’s Lunar Springs on the 30th and 31st of August 2025, bringing more than 6,000 people together for two days of live music and community. Founded by DJ Buxley to showcase Black British talent often sidelined at major festivals, Boxout set out to prove a point: when given the platform, homegrown artists can headline and deliver world-class performances.
Saturday’s lineup roared to life with NSG and BackRoad Gee at the helm. NSG’s set reminded everyone why their Afrofusion sound has become a cultural export, a seamless blend of Afrobeats, rap, and UK swagger that feels both global and deeply local. BackRoad Gee added his own high-voltage grit, reinforcing the festival’s refusal to water down Black British artistry.
On Sunday, the spotlight belonged to Stylo G. A British-Jamaican dancehall legend, Stylo has been enjoying a resurgence across the festival circuit, and Birmingham’s crowd met him like royalty. From Call Mi a Yardie to Touch Down, his catalogue hit with renewed power, not as nostalgia but as a live reminder of UK dancehall’s enduring force. His performance cemented Boxout’s purpose: Black British artists deserve the main stage.
The DJ sets across the weekend were phenomenal and showcased the artistry of hosting and crowd control. Terminal 4, DJ Larni, and DJ Dennyhus delivered sick dancehall sets that kept the energy sky high. Lamar G switched gears with an R&B set that had the entire crowd singing in unison. Together, they gave the festival its heartbeat and carried the atmosphere from start to finish.
The choice of Birmingham as host was intentional. The city’s identity is inseparable from its migration history: the Windrush generation, Caribbean and African diasporas, and successive waves of new communities have made it one of the UK’s most diverse and culturally rich cities. From reggae to grime, Birmingham has birthed genres, movements, and legacies. Boxout tapped into that heritage while creating a new space for the city’s future.
In an era where the UK’s creative economy is booming with independent festivals, Boxout stands apart for its mission-driven approach. DJ Buxley has been clear: Black British talent is too often underpaid, underbooked, and under-recognised. Boxout is his answer, a platform built to shift that balance.
And what does that mean for Black British identity? It means no longer being defined by comparison. Too often, Blackness in Britain is framed through the lens of somewhere else: Jamaica, Ghana, Nigeria, America. Boxout shows that our culture here is not borrowed or derivative. Black British culture is a melting pot, forged from the sounds of the diaspora, enriched by migration stories, and remixed into something entirely its own. Dancehall, Afrobeats, grime, drill, R&B — we inherit these genres, reshape them, localise them, and claim them as part of our collective story.
The significance of a festival like Boxout is that it centres Black British culture within the nation’s cultural story. It celebrates it as vibrant, world-class, and unapologetically visible.
By the time Stylo closed out Sunday night, one truth was undeniable: our homegrown artists are the gold standard. And when festivals like Boxout give them the stage they deserve, the world pays attention.
By Korrine Sky, Editor-at-Large, Southern African Times
