At a press conference in New York the President of the UN General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa, Molwyn Joseph, Environment Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Mona Juul, Permanent Representative of Norway, welcomed a special guest Ashanti, singer and Grammy Award winner as a headliner at the upcoming ‘Play it Out’ concert to tackle plastic pollution.
Hosted by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, and sponsored by the Government of Norway, the festival will see musicians and artists from around the world come together with policy leaders, innovators, and celebrity guests, to help ‘ring the closing bell’ on plastic use.
Ashanti, Grammy Award Winning Singer:
“I want to be a part of something that’s going to change, you know, I think music is awesome, but to be able to change lives and to be a part of something that is going to change our future and the future for our children, I think it is pretty cool.”
Along with Ashanti, the concert, which aims to Play it Out 2 Phase it Out, will be co-headlined by Machel Montano, the so-called ‘Soca King of the World’. Joining the pair will be a lineup of artists and performers covering different regions, demographics and music styles. They include American indie-rock band St. Lucia; Bomba Estéreo, an electric-duo hailing from Colombia; Nico & Vinz, an R&B act from Norway; Rocky Dawuni, Ghana’s premiere reggae artist and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador; and Grammy-nominated German DJ/producer Robin Schulz. The event will also feature top local artists, including Ricardo Drue and Claudette Peters. Antigua’s Kanneh-Masons, who recently performed at the wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, will also perform.
Additionally, the concert will feature an array of speakers including dignitaries, policymakers, celebrities, and representatives from the scientific, philanthropic and academic communities. This includes actor, co-founder of Lonely Whale, and UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador, Adrian Grenier. The ‘Play it Out’ concert is part of the Campaign Against Plastic Pollution, launched by the President of the UN General Assembly in December of 2018, and is aimed at tackling plastic waste both on the global level as well as within the UN itself. The concert will be hosted by the Government of Antigua and supported by the Government of Norway. Other campaign supporters include the Government of Monaco, the Government of Qatar, UN Environment, UNOPS, TKG | The Krim Group, and Lonely Whale.
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