Learn Something: The Origins of House and Techno (via Afropop Worldwide)

Chicago House Pioneer DJ Ron Hardy

AFROPOP WORLDWIDE recently released this excellent story on the origins of House music. They travel to Chicago and Detroit to talk to originators of the club scene, and uncover some of the gritty and truly interesting history behind the electronic music movement.

Give it a listen, it's a story that all DJ's ought to be aware of. Tweet: @AfroPopWW



"It's been over thirty years since house and techno music exploded out of South Side Chicago and inner-city Detroit, and most Americans still don't know their dance music history. In 1977 a DJ named Frankie Knuckles moved to Chicago to spin and remix disco records at an underground club called The Warehouse. Out of a fringe subculture that formed there - gay and African-American - house music would emerge to become one the biggest club music genres in the world. Meanwhile, young black futurists of Detroit channeled their city's post-industrial decay into a utopian machine music known as techno. In this Hip Deep episode, Afropop travels to Chicago and Detroit to explore the past and future of electronic music. Through dozens of interviews with seminal house and techno producers - including Paul Johnson, Vince Lawrence, Juan Atkins, and Carl Craig - as well as scholars, radio DJs and party promoters, we'll find out how two chilly mid-western cities taught the world to dance."