Wellfleet Preservation Hall

Thunderchild is written and performed by Mwalim | Directed by The ZYG 808.

"Complexity will always shatter into simplicity..." So begins THUNDERCHILD—a bold, genre-defying performance piece by acclaimed storyteller, musician, and griot Mwalim DaPhunkee Professor.

In this deeply personal and soul-shaking work, Mwalim enters his "Silver Fox Griot" era—reflecting on aging, legacy, creativity, and cultural evolution as a Black and Native artist, educator, and man. Through sharp wit, raw truth, and groove-drenched music,THUNDERCHILD explores what it means to step into elderhood with fire, funk, and full command of your voice.

Blending spoken-word storytelling with live performance of songs from his critically acclaimed 2024 album THUNDERCHILD(Poly-Groove Records), the piece pulses with a sonic mix of blues, soul, punk, and alternative rock—echoing the lived experience of a life steeped in movement and meaning. Directed by The ZYG 808, the show dances between the sacred and the streetwise, the academic and the ancestral.

“How else do we go from Miles Davis to House Music, or from Stravinsky to The Stooges?” Mwalim asks. THUNDERCHILD is his answer—a reminder that the lines between genres, lives, and generations are meant to be crossed, blurred, and reimagined.

Mwalim is a multi-award-winning playwright, author, composer, and educator, co-founder of the multi-Grammy-nominated band The GroovaLottos, and a member of the underground dance collective WAMPTRONICA. With THUNDERCHILD, he draws on decades of experience to offer a performance that is as fierce, funky, and fearless as the griot tradition demands.

THUNDERCHILD is not just a performance. It’s a calling. A passage. A groove for the next chapter.