Between Drake’s sleepy Honestly, Nevermind and Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul,” a lot of people have something to say about house music lately. (And while I can’t say I have thoroughly read every discourse posting, I’ve seen almost no instances of anyone mentioning the fact that several music sites reported rumors of Beyoncé working with house veteran and Chicago native Honey Dijon earlier this year.) Since house music was born in Chicago, and since the Reader has had plenty to say about this homegrown cultural legacy over the years, we’ve rounded up some of our house coverage for you here. Whether you want to wade into the discourse, or want to get a better grasp of a definitive Chicago sound, we hope this gives you a little more insight:
- Duane Powell on Mendel High School’s role as a crucial early hub for young house heads in the 1970s
- Michaelangelo Matos on Trax Records’ 2004 CD reissues documenting the height of the label’s fame and influence
- Leor Galil on Thing magazine, the queer Black publication that played a crucial role in documenting Chicago house in the late 1980s and early 1990s
- Yana Kunichoff on Chicago entertainment lawyer Jay B. Ross, who represented many of the biggest homegrown house stars
- Jacob Arnold on Benji Espinoza, whose work for Quantum Distributors and D.J. International helped nurture and expand Chicago’s house scene
- Leor Galil on the fate of Frankie Knuckles’s vinyl collection
- Michaelangelo Matos on Chicago house’s irrepressible second wave in the 1990s
- Jack Riedy on Prince’s influence on house music
- Leor Galil on the forgotten and fly-by-night venues that incubated house music
- Ayana Contreras in conversation with pioneering house DJ Lori Branch
- Jacob Arnold on the role of the B-52s in house music’s roots
- Steve Krakow on mid-80s dance duo Master Plan
- Leor Galil’s oral history of the Chosen Few Picnic
- Ayana Contreras in conversation with foundational Chicago house recording artist Vince Lawrence
- Jacob Arnold on Rockin’ House honcho Rodney Bakerr
- An excerpt from Michaelangelo Matos’s definitive 2015 book The Underground Is Massive: How Electronic Dance Music Conquered America
- Leor Galil on the influence and legacy of pioneering footwork producer DJ Rashad
- Jacob Arnold on a 2011 Virgo Four reissue
- Leor Galil on house promoter Dave “Medusa” Shelton
- Leor Galil on foundational ghetto-house label Dance Mania
- Leor Galil on cult house figure Marcus Mixx
- Leor Galil on Still Music’s ambitious house-mix reissue project
This is just a small sample of the house stories you can find in the Reader archives. For a shortcut to more pieces, you can begin by scrolling through the “house music” tag.
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