chicago juke: dj nate, dj rashad [R.I.P. 2014], leatherface aka kaptain cadillac, dj roc &c &c

i've been sleeping on this: only became increasingly aware of it over the past couple of years, mostly because it's a huge influence on the night slugs crew here in london (girl unit, jam city, bok bok, l-vis 1990, manara, ikonika), and it both shows in their own productions and in what they dj. then i got sent a few compilations and EPs and heard a few mixes by the artists in the title. dj nate's da trak genious is the one that's most blown me away - this fucking track is so so so beautiful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTkRyfv6gHg

but the entire album is wall-to-wall vibes, snatches of soul and hip-hop and r&b pitched up, pitched down, set to those amazing stuttering beats.

so i) school me on what i've missed all these years, ii) talk about the stuff just coming out, iii) &c &c.

oh yeah and footworking is pretty hard right?

so these guys are like the uk diplo right?

'the night slugs crew' i mean obviously

i find it too hard to keep up - i thought those guys played funky?

oh god they would be so offended at that. they don't make juke, it's just an influence that you can hear now and again. sometimes they play juke (sometimes house, funky, r&b, whatever) but that's not any more diploesque than any uk dj playing music from elsewhere, it's not like juke is their selling point (though carving out there own distinct aesthetic IS).

Given Diplo's own actual productions are increasingly Night Slugs-ish that comparison is more accurate every day.

the london diplo seems more accurate.

that's bullshit, and doesn't even make sense w/r/t the practice of calling someone "the uk version of x", but this is a thread about juke, so does anyone actually have comments on that rather than pursuing some weird anti-nightslugs snark vendetta?

xp

My comment was more about diplo really.

"poetry" is fantastic. I really like dj nate but don't know the other guys you mention very well.

Nate isn't even part of the scene. It's RP Boo, DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, DJ Roc, Traxxman etc etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGPbBvujC10&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4raxoN1ZeX0&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02oPbTa-jUI

this stuff is big w/ chicago teens. the dude who wrote about this stuff for the wire is a friend of mine

Fidget House ?

/braggin

deej you LIVE there, i figured you'd know about it all (and was hoping you'd be in here at some point)

Nate isn't even part of the scene

yeah i heard something vaguely about this: in what way is he not part of the scene/why is he being picked up on, or packaged as, part of it?

i like all the artists i've heard but he reeeeeally stands out

"poetry" is really nice

these are some of the other dj nate trax that stand out on the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORf_acLEV5k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfvYxWClaOY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFALsSjM1wQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITvdb3m9vLw

and "call me when you're sober" - the only version of which on youtube is this amazing girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9PDtmEiAuQ

haha what - looking for that on youtube reveals that the source material for "call me when you're sober" is EVANESCENCE!

lol yep

Hence the title.

yeah i just didn't know that evanescence had a song called that

Ooops neither did I it was a lame gag about needing to be drunk to listen to Evanescence.

looool

so i also realised that i didn't know where the "poetry" sample was from and it's a random danity kane ballad off an album that i apparently love but didn't recognise

i have trouble listening to this stuff. it reminds me of trying to get into acardipane or lory d or stuff like that. yes, it is incredibly offbeat, put i find just about everything involved aesthetically off-putting. it's sort of like certain types of internet-derived conceptual art, where yes, you do get this incredible sense of invention and "wrongness" about it but then there's not really any ear candy there to draw you back.

er i meant "eye candy", hopefully that visual art metaphor isn't too strained.

when i hear music like footwork i feel the same way i feel when i see art like this

imo its not stuff i would pay for & play out
its cool & weird but its like ... super-functional music for the ppl who make it / primarily consume it. not that im against britishers spending their hard earned 'pounds' to help a kid in inner city chi make a few bucks instead of that money going to dubstep dj dark shadows of nottingham or w/e (made that name up)

i do like how it functions in its main environment tho ... just have trouble listening to it w/out looking at kids doing some crazy footwork ish to it. its like, theres no purpose beyond that, its not pop music, etc

not that im against britishers spending their hard earned 'pounds' to help a kid in inner city chi make a few bucks instead of that money going to dubstep dj dark shadows of nottingham or w/e

^^this is classic

heh heh

so is this basically made to do footwork routines too, like those amped-up hip hop / pop dance cheerleading mashups?

or is it more "listenable" than that, like these kids might bump this stuff in their bedroom while studying?

i can only imagine ppl who actually footwork, or produce footwork music, or dudes who read The Wire, actually listening to this while chilling in their bedrooms
also internet dudes like us 'making sense of a musical phenomenon'
this stuff is ime separate even from ghetto house targeted at dance parties that arent related to footworking
but i dont know as well as dave quam i shd ask him

i mean, 'the kids' like, uh, kanye west & waka flocka flame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiGpv-UeiDI

its cool & weird but its like ... super-functional music for the ppl who make it / primarily consume it.

i do like how it functions in its main environment tho ... just have trouble listening to it w/out looking at kids doing some crazy footwork ish to it. its like, theres no purpose beyond that, its not pop music, etc

you could say the same thing about baltimore club "bmore gutter music" was dropped - by hollertronix, no less. now there's bmore breaks all over top 40 like wtf

are there

& no, baltimore club was made for dancing by ppl at clubs. "OMG u could say the same thing about house music!!" not really

it is super-functional music for the ppl who make it / primarily consume it, but we already saw a single from the UK which showed footwork influences, I can see this music going further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWfiog1Ure4

anyway, I do like how it functions in its main environment too, I'd prefer it to stay like this to be honest, when things go global the energy dissipates too.

it's functional music => it works well in clubs => djs from other countries play it in clubs => and here we are with some albums getting released (and the dj nate in particular is pretty conducive to non-club listening)

yeah the dj nate album is pretty nice around the house listening music imo, don't even really think of it as dance music half as much as instrumental hip hop. but i'm not crazy about the rest of the stuff been posted itt so far, which seems much more dependent on context, or knowing what footwork is & how to do it.

& no, baltimore club was made for dancing by ppl at clubs. "OMG u could say the same thing about house music!!" not really

i think we should explore this statement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrfMNoEJkRU

jurr

http://www.youtube.com/user/ghettotekz

This youtube channel is amazing.

i like listening to this stuff apart from watching crazy footwork videos or whatever, but it gets a little headache-inducing after a few tracks. doesn't surprise me at all that it appeals to people who fall for other high-bpm beat music (d&b, dubstep, baltimore, etc).

listening to this now: http://www.thefader.com/2010/11/04/stream-%CE%BC-ziqs-footwork-mix/

i'm sorry but goon squad absolutely kill it in the above video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be1o2EuOKIA

^this is the footwork track to rope in noise dudes/drone mongos/Wire subscriber asshats like me

rilly tho it's one of the most... extraordinary things I've heard all year - it's on the Bangs & Works comp that Planet Mu are putting out

I meant to post in this but when I was reading it before it was on my phone in a caravan :/

WARNING: THIS IS THE GREATEST VIDEO EVER POSTED TO THE INTERNET.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjdLcwjJJ18

npr streaming the 'bangs & works' comp, with a little article on it.

so [night slugs] are like the uk diplo right?

― i feed these skreets (tpp), Saturday, October 2, 2010 4:29 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

:) Thank you for creating a phrase that captures my contempt of Night Slugs.

i decided today this stuff's not even music

http://vimeo.com/15819811

I've decide that this is just about the most depressing noise I've ever heard.

j/k i really like dj spinn and dj rashad but a lot of this stuff i'm just having a lot of trouble getting into ...

super sick: http://soundcloud.com/ghettophiles/joey-beltram-energy-flash-dj-rashad-xtc-juke-remix

super sick: http://soundcloud.com/ghettophiles/joey-beltram-energy-flash-dj-rashad-xtc-juke-remix

whoops

jlin easily one of the best footwork albums out there. she sounds so diff to everyone else too.

Yeah it's reignited my faith in footwork as a progressive genre. great record

Yeah, I feel like Double Cup and Space Zone are the only footwork full lengths I've enjoyed as much.

space zone is underrated, double cup i feel is quite overrated. rashad should get plenty of props for all the groundwork hes laid for footwork, but as a producer, traxman is heaps more accomplished, and actually just plain better (sorry to speak ill of the dead!)

the last track on jlin, with the 'im not one of your fans!' sample is brilliant. i love her samples.

Yeah, this Jlin album is destroying me.

looking forward to checking it out. so far it sounds heavy on the 12/8 vibe.

Don't wanna be all 'female electronic artist' about this but I could hear and see (in the vid) shades of gazelle twin,fka twigs and Holly herndon in her sound. It's very much footwork, but I could play them all back to back and it wouldn't be that jarring, you know?

Don't wanna be all 'female electronic artist' about this but

how have you not learned not to start shit off like this

^^^^

One of the tracks is a collaboration with Herndon tho.

That Jlin record is spicy as fuck. Definitely face sweating and enjoying that burning sensation on my tongue. Can't wait to play it on a loud system.

xpost oh didn't know that. which one?

"Expand"

the jlin feels like a game-changer

i'm still waiting for dark energy to click for me. it's not as frenetic as other footwork stuff?

feels like more of a listening than a dancing album, lots of cool drum programming, but doesn't truly groove

its def more head-pleasing, like its made for you to pay attention to the patterns. a lot of it makes me think of dubstep actually, though without ever sounding like shes trying to sound like dubstep. tbh i lost interest in a lot of the stuff by footwork producers that was trying to incorporate other genres (even that made by the original chicago guys), but jlin somehow integrates dubstep-friendly elements in a much smoother, more natural way.

great mixtape: https://mallmusicinc.bandcamp.com/album/mall-music-presents-juice-ii

This DJ Orange Julius mixtape is definitely pretty great.

dj spinn raising the bar

http://backspinpromo.com/djspinnoffthatloud/

with this track specifically, "dubby" is quite old now, and i am not 100% keen on the other two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMzjsL8vaog

https://youtu.be/Wgtfx8RttME

the Paypal album is fun, first few tracks especially. love the room-y percussion in this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVrIFxGNRb0

yeah i'm definitely gonna buy it when it comes out.

that 'Ahhhhhhh' track is sweet. have a hard time with this stuff, a lot of it sounds pretty raw, w/excess, like trigger happy samples/percussion and questionable flows.. i like how machinedrum has a more easily digestible, almost like, bibio/post rock take on the music. the jlin dark energey stuff sounds well focused.

So what have been the best juke/footwork releases this year? I've not really been keeping up

I have been loving Jlin's stuff though. The new EP is sick

my favorite footwork track this year was "off that loud", posted the video about six posts up

my faves:

DJ Spinn - Dubby (from Off that Loud EP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49cQHfWzn0o

DJ Rashad - 6613 EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF0sDAq6aec

Mall Music Presents Juice II
https://mallmusicinc.bandcamp.com/album/mall-music-presents-juice-ii

DJ Pay Pal - Buy Now EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DtS6caVrQA

DJ Mastercard - Virtual Crime EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB87r3MrHNQ

Machinedrum - Movin Forward EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3Xj4vP0Yhs

DJ Khalab - Eunoto EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N43K6oadp4

Clap! Clap! - Simple EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI5_ZedJnLc

RP Boo - Classics Vol 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLvOGOLq6KY

Thanks! I saw there was an RP Boo album out this year but I just haven't gotten round to picking it up yet

yeah the new rp boo is great

ne dj mastercard is great
https://mallmusicinc.bandcamp.com/album/corrupt-memories

new*

DJ Taye mix - https://www.mixcloud.com/Mixmag/in-session-dj-taye/

thanks dominique

This Taye mix is ridiculous. Really great.

Thanks in no small part to the Jlin and Paypal albums from 2015, my footwork passion has been reignited. Also interested int he Lisbon 'Batida' style and whatever it is Clap! Clap! is all about. Think these all inhabit a similar area of broken sample-based rhythms. Might it be worth starting a new rolling thread for this stuff (the title of this one is a bit old-fashioned now, right?)

fuck it Rolling Footwork / Juke / Cargaa / Shangaan/ Chaabi / Other

so ... i hear this jana rush thing is pretty good

yep

I been listening to Bangs & Works v's 1 & 2 a lot this week and ugh fuck they are so good and are actually really gr8 at the gym???

Good thread on how this stuff was experienced

If you didn’t go to parties at The Rink, House of Kicks, Dolton Expo, Markham Skating Rink, 5th City, Paul Hall or the Route then you wouldn’t understand this thread...

— AshleySherelle (@AshleySherelle) March 23, 2018

Look, you have to watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yecFTeMVSlo

dj manny’s “signals in my head” is a true song of the year candidate for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MEpEStwhLM

listened to “double cup” three times last night, how is this still so good

Been repping this excellent mix from HiTech—
https://soundcloud.com/carharttwip/carhartt-wip-radio-june-2023

yes i saw that, all that stuff is great!! i posted abt hi tech and full body du rag. haven’t heard detwat yet but i bet it’s going to be great

love Détwat, it really ups the game tbh

"last winter," a long circulating bonus track from double cup, has just been officially released in advance of its upcoming 10th anniversary reissue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8kY46h_two

Damn, I can't believe it's been 10 years since that came out.

Me neither. Feels so recent