AY Young’s career trajectory is the definition of creating the change you want to see.
In 2012, the Kansas City native was a contestant on FOX’s “The X Factor.” Following his time on the music competition show, he went on to open for artists such as Wyclef Jean, Wiz Khalifa, T-Pain, and Janelle Monae. However, AY Young found himself wanting to take a more innovative approach when it came to performing.
Despite facing numerous rejections, he was adamant on being an outlet for change. Following his motto of “Use your passion to take an action” sparked The Battery Tour and became a method for him to reduce the carbon footprint of his music.
“I just kind of obsessed over how to do a concert anywhere and started storing energy in batteries and that’s how The Battery Tour was born,” AY Young told ABC7 San Francisco.
The outlet reported that AY Young made history as the first known artist to power their concerts using 100 percent renewable energy. According to AY Young, he uses solar energy and stores it into portable solar batteries as opposed to diesel generators, which produce carbon emissions. Specifically, he converts direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC) and plugs in to power his shows. He has reportedly had over 950 shows under “The Battery Tour.”
Utilizing renewable energy is AY Young’s way of modeling what sustainability can look like within the music industry. Similar to him, musicians like Billie Eilish — who used solar-charged intelligent batteries for her 2023 Lollapalooza set — have been outspoken about doing their part to combat the climate crisis. Ultimately, the mission is to decarbonize the music industry. According to Billboard, the swift solution would be to no longer power event sites with diesel generators, but legacy rental companies don’t have infrastructure that’s sustainable enough yet.
While AY Young is a leader in the movement, it’s evident that there is still a long road ahead in becoming a carbon-free industry. Nonetheless, a main action step of his is using The Battery Tour to promote, develop, and deploy sustainable solutions and connect with organizations that do the work. In addition to the concert series, AY Young created his album Project 17 that has secured sponsors including Samsung, Verizon, and Enel Green Power. As AY Young was previously recognized by the UN’s Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, the music project highlights the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the UN’s website, the SDGs went into effect in 2015 and the mission is for each of them to be completed by 2030.
“Today, the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) in the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) provides substantive support and capacity-building for the SDGs and their related thematic issues, including water, energy, climate, oceans, urbanization, transport, science and technology, the Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR), partnerships and Small Island Developing States,” its website wrote.
Through Project 17, AY Young is using his music platform as a conduit to his overarching goal of ensuring that more communities have access to electricity by 2030 alongside the UN.
“We should all have energy, goal seven [affordable and clean energy], which is what I’ve been helping do with The Battery Tour doing these concerts, but I use the concerts to raise money to send people energy boxes, food, and water around the world who don’t have it,” AY Young explained to ABC7 San Francisco.
Prior to becoming an artist, AY Young grew up watching his father enact change in communities within their hometown of Kansas City including community efforts like neighborhood clean ups. Now, AY Young aims to expand on that impact through his music and mobilizing communities on a global scale.
“At The Battery Tour, we believe the future is renewable energy,” AY Young expressed during “The Artist-Activist Spectrum” panel at the inaugural Music Sustainability Summit in February 2024. “It’s sustainability. It’s reusing and refilling…I’m continuing to use music as a vehicle to bring together every facet of humanity to make sustainability happen.”