JUGGERNAUT WAR PARTY
Enter the JUGGERNAUT! Founded by frontman Qaasim Middleton (American Idol, Naked Brothers Band and HBO’s Music In Me), Juggernaut War Party is quite a collective, consisting of Qaasim, (lead vocals, guitar), his brother Khalil (vocals, MPC), lead guitarists Jonah Hudson, Emmet Sher and Joseph Deadwiley, drummer Andres Valbuena, keyboardists Jack Gruber and Francisco Haye, with Ethan Cohn and Paul Johnson on bass.
You may remember Qaasim from his awesome run on American Idol Season 14, when he performed with Chris Brown and Pitbull and was lavished with praise from J-Lo, Harry Connick Jr. & Keith Urban. Since his amazing run on Idol, where he finished in the Top 8, Qaasim has been quietly developing his material, working on his debut album with his Hip Hop/Funk/Rock fusion band Qaasim & the Juggernaut War Party: Children of The Plague (“Juggernaut War Party” or “JWP” for short).
The Juggernaut War Party concept was birthed at AFROPUNK BATTLE OF THE BANDS BROOKLYN, on June 22nd, 2015, when Qaasim and his bandmates entered the contest to showcase their skills and original Rock/Rap/Funk fusion material. They did extremely well for a brand new group, making it to the very end, eliminated only in the Finals. It was debatable, but all of the groups rocked out that year, so the band chalked it up to an awesome debut experience.
Right after that, Qaasim did his last show on the American Idol Tour at the Beacon Theater August 5th, 2015, then become a free agent. Since then he has been in the studio with the band, recording and polishing their sound for their debut release. Juggernaut did their second show, October 10th, 2015, opening for Rakim and Corey Glover at the RESTORATION ROCKS MUSIC FESTIVAL.
This year, Qaasim & The Juggernaut War Party are back with a vengeance! They entered the AFROPUNK BROOKLYN BATTLE once again and performed such a striking, memorable set, that even though another band was eventually voted the winner, the judges gave JWP 2nd Place and decided that this year the top TWO bands were going to go through, to perform at Afropunk Brooklyn 2016! They couldn’t front on the War Party and wanted to bring their amazing sound (and fanbase) to the Afropunk festival. Juggernaut truly is the unstoppable force!
Come out to watch Qaasim & The Juggernaut War Party tear down the stage August 27th on the Green Stage, from 1:45 – 2:15pm at the AFROPUNK BROOKLYN FESTIVAL 2016, sharing the stage with artists such as Jonelle Monae, Cee-lo Green, TV on the Radio, George Clinton, Ice Cube, Flying Lotus, Saul Williams, Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, plus members of Bad Brains, Fishbone, and Living Colour, just to name a few! It is going to be lit!
JOIN THE PARTY! Link up with Qaasim & JWP on all social media.