The first banjo-playing rapper, Demeanor bridges the gap between tradition and innovation while celebrating the many facets of the Black American music tradition.

Justin Harrington (aka Demeanor) is an MC, banjo and bones player from Greensboro, North Carolina. Justin studied at the College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati before leaving school to join his aunt, Rhiannon Giddens, as part of her Freedom Highway Tour. He has been playing the banjo for several years, crafting an unconventional fusion of hip-hop and American roots music in an effort to break down the wall separating black Americans with their own ancestral tradition, while celebrating American folk music as an African American art form. Justin is dedicated to developing an impactful body of work, and curating empowering environments, striving to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors while establishing a new musical legacy. He received a 2020 OneBeat Accelerator Grant to fund his non-profit initiative, Haus of Lacks, which aims to connect socially-engaged artists to develop + share strategies for using art and music creation to affect direct and actionable social change in their communities.

Demeanor has appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk series, TEDx, and the Newport Folk Festival.

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