#soundcheck: battle of the bands winners tess and inky jack will rock afropunk fest this weekend

Our love for New York singer/songwriter Tess is no secret. Straddling the world of RnB and rock like the second coming of Tina Turner, Tess has spent the past few months kicking some serious ass. After dropping her debut EP The Name Is Tess earlier this summer, Tess destroyed at the Afropunk Battle of the Bands. She was recently added to the line-up of Afropunk Fest 2012, and you will not want to miss her live set. Check out the video for “MJ” to get psyched…

Tess’ co-winners Inky Jack have been brewing up their own multi-hyphenate sound they call synthy-soul-rock. Their self-titled debut came out earlier this year and is pretty epic. Their record puts driving guitars over heavy drum machines and darkwave synth bass all topped with lead singer Kwame’s soulful rasp. Highlights are the songs “Seas,” “Under the Ground,” and lead single “Radar.” The video for “Radar” posted a few weeks ago and features some seriously tripped out visuals.

Catch both Inky Jack and Tess at APFest2012 this weekend. Oh, and did we mention it’s free? Because it most definitely is.

– Words by Nathan Leigh