As house music spread beyond its Chicago birthplace in the late 1980s, no city soaked up the sound quite as eagerly as New York. This was in a large part down to an ecosystem of promoters, labels, record shops and artists that extends far beyond the accepted canon of major-name DJs and producers. Here, Bruce [...]
Image courtesy of Google House Music and its legendary Black creators from Chicago got the ultimate shout-out to start Black History Month. On Saturday, Feb. 1, Google highlighted the genre with a Doodle on its search engine. “In celebration of Black History Month, today’s music video Doodle, celebrates house music, a genre with roots in Chicago’s [...]
South Africa's love for house music flourished in the early ’90s as the Apartheid era ended, pushed primarily by DJs in and around Johannesburg and Pretoria. Now, it's a focal point, filled with local styles and stars. Martin Guttridge-Hewitt heads to Gauteng to learn the story of the scene’s origins, and the risks its pioneers [...]
From his underground hit ‘Madness’ in 1990 to remixing legends like Michael Jackson and Chaka Khan, the Grammy nominee reflects on Chicago's music legacy, the birth of house music, and his latest venture into the world of documentary with BET.com. Terry Hunter has been one of the seminal purveyors of house music across the globe. [...]
Soaring ascents, the kind that can take an artist from obscurity to stardom in what seems to be the blink of an eye, don’t occur often, in dance music or elsewhere – those who are lucky enough to have that experience often disappear just as quickly. But there’s little chance of a quick fade for [...]
If we had to pick one word to describe electronic dance music in the '90s, it'd be variety. "In the U.S. and the U.K., in particular, electronic dance music was in this constant state of mutation," says World Cafe correspondent John Morrison. "There were new subgenres and micro-genres popping off. Just in that 10-year span, we saw the emergence [...]
DJ and World Cafe correspondent John Morrison explains how disco is the nexus from which most veins of contemporary dance music originate. Over the past few years for Black History Month, World Cafe has dug into different genres and their importance in the Black music canon over the decades. With DJ and World Cafe correspondent John Morrison as our guide, we’ve explored the “Black Roots [...]
Known as The Godfather of House Music, Frankie Knuckles helped revolutionize electronic music in the '80s. - The Frankie Knuckles Foundation If the grandeur of disco reigned supreme in the '70s, the following decade belonged to the homespun productions of rogue DJs. "In the '80s, you got the introduction of relatively affordable music-making equipment," says World [...]
Visit these destinations to experience and understand the enduring power, prevalence and history of Black house music. As many already know, house music has always been heralded in Black and marginalized communities, and like many musical genres, it originated at a time when collective frustrations were high. While many identify the genre with the [...]
The new cut, released to coincide with Black History Month, features vocals by the artist herself DJ Minx has released a new single, 'Taking It Back'. Out now through her Women On Wax label to coincide with Black History Month, the track features lyrics written and performed by the Detroit artist herself. You can listen [...]