Footwork is the most groundbreaking American innovation in dance music of the last decade.
Normally, my sense of journalistic decency would preclude me from making such a grandiose statement; after all, who could forget a Skrillex-lead army of demon robots? (Everybody.) But in this instance, I have no qualms about such a sweeping statement what. so. ever.
Before a few years ago, virtually no one had heard of footwork outside of Chicago and a couple eclectic electronic music circles. The story has changed entirely. The original innovators who lit up Chicago dance floors a couple years ago with the lightning quick rhythms that characterize footwork can now be found embarking on international tours and releasing full length albums for some of the most progressive electronic music labels of our time.
It almost seems as if the success of footwork came over night, but the reality of the story is entirely different.
For nearly a decade, the unique sound of footwork was germinating on dance floors in southern and western Chicago, nearly invisible to the prying eyes of scene-hoppers and the mainstream media. Despite the fact that we have Chicago to thank for the original transformation of disco into the jackin’ house we still love today, Chicago lay seemingly dormant for most of the 2000s. Yet nothing could be farther from the truth. While the trends slept on Chicago, a new breed was rising up to change the game as we know it. What we have as a result is a seasoned group of producers and DJs unleashing a wrath of unreleased music and the unbridled dance styles of urban Chicago to international audiences. If this case is true of anyone, it’s gotta be true of footwork mastermind DJ Rashad.
In a world where 17-year-old producers can rise to fame over a couple tracks released on the internet while still dreading their algebra homework, DJ Rashad’s battle from the bottom to the top of the game is testament that drive and dedication still carry. Rashad picked up turntables at the age of 12 after being exposed to turntablism at the dance battles he participated in, which have come to characterize the style and culture of footwork. Maybe this deserves some clarification: Footwork didn’t begin as music to be played in clubs or to drink a martini over.
As the name hints, the music was originally crafted with the intent of curating Chicago’s fevered dance scene, where dancers came together to battle one another for the top stop amongst a number of competing dance crews. While the dance style sounds highly competitive (and it is), dance culture in Chicago has paved the way for generations of young people to channel their efforts towards artistic creativity and expression.
Though Footwork has made it to a dance floor near you (and hopefully more of them in Boston), I think it’s worth emphasizing that the origins of the genre were not in the club-ready music that Footwork, commonly called “Juke”, often comes off as today.
Out of an extremely talented group of Chicago producers, DJ Rashad has risen to near-poster boy status for the footwork sound. His years of accomplishment would be impossible to summarize —for my sake, I’ll stick to the recent. A pivotal point in footwork’s exposure to national and international audiences came when UK record labels Planet Mu and Hyperdub started to take notice of the movement and released a series of compilations of the previously mysterious sound. Rashad was featured alongside a number of prominent Chicago producers including RP Boo, Traxman, Jlin, DJ Earl, and DJ Elmoe, among others on the influential Bangs and Works Volumes 1 & 2 compilations, a truly breathtaking demonstration of the tracks that helped bring Footwork to the public eye. Earlier this year, Rashad released his EPs Rollin’ and I Don’t Give a Fuck on the UK’s patently innovative label Hyperdub, with a follow up full-length album entitled Double Cup expected out this October 22nd. (Yea, definitely go grab that!)
DJ Rashad joins Hyperdub label-head and don Kode9 along with Texas-bred junglist Wheez-ie this Wednesday at Bassic Boston.
This is pretty much one of the best line ups I’ve ever seen on a weekday in Boston. There’s so much going on here I can’t … even. I’ll pretty much leave it at this: Kode9 is legendary status in the electronic music world. You’re not gonna wanna miss this one; trust me on that, if anything.
The Teklife Crew recently took over at the Pitchfork Festival’s Boiler Room after party and it’s definitely quite the sight. DJ Rashad alongside DJ Manny carry us until nearly the end, when RP Boo takes over the decks. DJ Spinn works the mic to a hometown crowd more than familiar with the sound. Admittedly, this isn’t my favorite mix from Rashad, Manny, or Boo—some of the transitions have the feel of being quite a bit less than polished—but hey, it was after Pitchfork Fest I guess. It’s definitely got the feel of a live setting.
Still, the virtues of the Boiler Room mix are the context of Chicago, some proper footworkin’ going down, and the energy of the crowd for the hometown favorites. As you’ll surely notice, one of the definitive features of footwork is the chopping and repetition of vocal clips to wholly hypnotic levels. After years of listening to footwork, I still can’t actually tell you what exactly is so captivating about those vocal chops, but it definitely makes you feel some type of way.
BASSIC PRESENTS:
KODE9 + DJ RASHAD + WHEEZ-IE
WED 10.2.13
GOOD LIFE
28 KINGSTON ST.
BOSTON
9:30PM/21+/$10 ADV, $15 DOS
@BASSIC_BOSTON
BASSICBOSTON.COM
