The main floor at YAAM, presented by Carhartt, features fresh new takes on dancehall, hip hop, and other bass- and rhythm- heavy forms.

Like many artists in the world of Flex Dance Music (FDM), Hitmakerchinx and DJ Aaron are both dancers and producers – and in these roles they’ve worked with the likes of Rihanna and Madonna. Flexing, an offshoot of dancehall & reggae dance styles, evolved in the Caribbean neighbourhoods of Brooklyn after legend and innovator Bruk Up relocated from Kingston in 1995. The music to accompany it, originally known as "flex tunes", has also grown into a genre of its own with club-ready beats and obscure samples – now known as FDM. In their CTM performance, Hitmakerchinx and DJ Aaron will both move between the decks and the dance floor, where they’ll also be supported by a collaborative force between OG hob dot, one of the leading pioneers and creatives of the bone-breaking flex style, and the female flex dance phenomenon Susie Q.

Kingston, Jamaica avant-dancehall collective Equiknoxx have made big waves with their prismatic, forward-thinking, shimmy-mandating latest releases, Bird Sound Power and the Colón Man, on DDS. Their CTM performance will feature three core members: riddim producers Gavsborg & Time Cow and vocalist Shanique Marie.

Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes, a Kampala-based label and festival showcasing outsider music from East & Central Africa and beyond, will bring the new project Nihiloxica, in which four percussionists, one live drum kit, and analogue synths investigate Buganda & Busogo drumming from novel and euphoric angles.

UK MC and self-described tomboy/feminist/rebel/misfit RoxXxann will take her no-nonsense lyrics to grime-informed backdrops, and internet sensation Bad Gyal punctuates dancehall, reggaeton, and Atlanta-style textures with fresh, DIY musings in English, Spanish, and her native Catalan language.

DJ and No Shade co-founder Hunni’d Jaws will expose roots in bass and grime but also introduce new outgrowths in the directions of hybrid techno, noise, and even ambient.

Beatmaker for a.o. Lgoony and frequent Swan Meat collaborator DJ Heroin will drop heavy, earnest instrumentals as epic and vast as the internet, bringing the legacy of trap and hip hop into the brainy realm of the cloud.