Journalist Lawrence Burney guides us through the evolution of one of America's most enduring dance music sub-genres. Before Baltimore club music splintered into other regional East Coast genres, spawning Philly and Jersey club music, it was a local powerhouse all to itself. The early sound as pioneered by artists like Scottie B, Rod Lee [...]
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 [...]
In his 40 years as a DJ, Sean “DJ Spen” Spencer has seen it all. As a teenager, he watched hip-hop become a cultural force, opening for acts like Run-DMC and LL Cool J with his group Numarx. He’s spent decades producing and remixing dance records, running labels, and DJing around the world and [...]
How DJs Ultra Naté and Lisa Moody helped cement the legacy of house music and Baltimore’s irrevocable connection to the history of the genre. With a cursory Google search of “house music in Baltimore,” you’ll see several mentions of men like DJ Spen, Karizma, Teddy Douglas, Jay Steinhour, and Thommy Davis, who formed The [...]
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 1980s, [...]
One of Baltimore’s most revered dance music exports, Karizma, takes us on a superb house music journey ahead of the release of his Karizma Klassics LP for Beatport’s Playlist of Week. Hello, I’m Karizma — aka Kaytronik aka K2 aka Xander Knevrmind. I’m blessed to have had a career for over 30 years in this thing we call music. I [...]
Photo Credit: Simon King/Redferns Amid Beyoncé and Drake dropping dance-centric albums, here’s a guide to the classics of Black dance music subgenres — from Chicago house to Baltimore Club. Thanks to Beyoncé and Drake releasing their own respective dance-centric albums — Renaissance and Honestly, Nevermind — there’s been a renewed interest in dance music — specifically Black dance music — in the mainstream. In [...]
