"I don't complain, I create." The house DJ talks about her new multi-platform project, Honeyverse, and using music as a way to celebrate the Black queer community. Honey Dijon is a queer house music icon whose reputation precedes her. Originally hailing from Chicago, she grew up going to raves in the 1970s, eventually [...]
Credit: Jordan Landwehr Chicago’s ARC Music Festival brings international acts from throughout the various evolutions of house music to the city that gave the genre its name, booking them side by side with rising and veteran local talent. Ben Hindle heads to the Windy City to see how the music and culture survives and [...]
Under their Director's Cut alias, Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper lent an uplifting disco remix to Ultra Naté and Michelle Williams' "Waiting On You." A milestone album anniversary, a dance music holiday and new music from the Godfather of House Music Frankie Knuckles are all converging into one celebratory moment. 10 years ago, Ultra [...]
The history of Chicago’s 3 Degrees Global collective, representing a missing link in Chicago house music history as told by its members: Jeremiah Seraphine, Forever Monna, Julius The Mad Thinker, Dj-FLX, Priti Gandhi, BIGSEXY and Czboogie… The story of 3° is a story that is best told by its members. There were at one point [...]
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, [...]
WORDS BY NEAL ANDREW EMIL GUSTAFSON AND JESSICA FORTUNE FENNER A strong relationship exists between the spiritual sounds of Chicago and the mechanical sonics of Detroit. The decades-strong alignment is rooted in their history of shared traditions within the Black American musical diaspora, their proximity, and their midwestern heart. Both cities contributed significantly to [...]
Desiree Taylor, 47, from Baltimore, came to Chicago for the first time with eight friends who go to house music festivals every year for the “funkier” and “more soulful” approach of house music. The Chosen Few picnic got off to a rainy start Saturday, but the rain couldn’t dampen the good vibes that brought thousands [...]
Chicagoans rarely suffer from a shortage of music festivals, but few such events make me feel like I’m participating in the city’s cultural fabric like the Chosen Few Picnic. The long-running house-music celebration began informally in 1990, and its roots extend even further back. Wayne Williams founded the Chosen Few DJ collective in 1977 [...]
In celebration of Pride Month, we're taking a rhythmic journey through time, tracing the transformative footprints of some of the world's most influential LGBTQ+ club spaces in the oasis of house music. From the disco-fueled dance floors of Chicago's Warehouse to the pulsing beats of New York's Paradise Garage; from Dublin's Mother, a cornerstone of [...]
Founder Joe Shanahan never intended to be in the live music business. But his passion for house music transformed his Chicago venue into a nightlife hotspot and a "beacon of hope" for US dance music. The story begins on the North Side of Chicago in 1982. In the aftermath of Disco Demolition and the advent of [...]