In 2017, foundational Chicago footwork collective and record label Teklife dropped On Life, a compilation highlighting all the producers in its wider family. That record became a series, and the new On Life: Vol. 3 arrives four years after the second chapter. Given the engrossing sounds it contains and the growth in Teklife’s ranks of […]
Tag: Teklife
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Synth-pop songwriter Warm Human shines even on odds and ends
Gossip Wolf first took a shine to the synth-pop jams of Meredith Johnston, aka Warm Human, when she dropped her standout debut full-length, Ghastly, in 2019. Over the past few years, Johnston has proved impressively prolific, releasing a string of radio-worthy singles and album-length projects whose tone ping-pongs all over the place—she mixes up misty […]
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Jana Rush engineers her own empowerment
Experimental footwork producer Jana Rush recorded her breathtaking new album, Painful Enlightenment, while battling depression, but she’s careful not to romanticize that fact. “At that time, I couldn’t be consistent with anything. I could start something and good luck with finishing it,” Rush explains. “The loss of hope, it’s a strange and empty feeling, and […]
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DJ Manny centers love on his R&B-infused new album, Signals in My Head
Manuel Gaines, who performs as DJ Manny, was ten years old when he first heard footwork music at a party. Before long, the Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based producer met two titans of the genre, DJ Spinn and the late DJ Rashad, with whom he eventually collaborated on a handful of tracks. Manny has multiple releases under his […]
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Rock critic Jessica Hopper publishes an expanded edition of her first book
Rock critic Jessica Hopper publishes a hugely expanded edition of her first book, Bryan Away (aka Elliot Korte) drops an album of lush folk-pop, and more.
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Rapper and poet Mykele Deville signs on as the Hideout’s new booker
Rapper and poet Mykele Deville signs on as the Hideout’s new booker, ghetto-house pioneer DJ Deeon makes his debut for the Teklife label, and more.
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Christopher Santoso, aka DJ and producer Please and Issa Party label founder
“I try and make the music for the dancers—like Teklife, Beatdown House, everybody in the footwork community. It’s all for them.”
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DJ Earl demonstrates footwork’s deep roots on Bass + Funk & Soul
Since Chicago footwork producer and Teklife member DJ Earl dropped his breakthrough 2016 debut, Open Your Eyes, he’s traveled far outside the city and branched out into different sounds. In 2017, Earl dropped a genre-splicing dance full-length called 50 Backwoods with in-demand Brooklyn producer Nick Hook, and this year his collaborations have included the hip-hop […]
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Sirr TMo Sama gives footwork a strange peacefulness with On Dat
In June, the label arm of the Chicago-born Teklife footwork collective released its first flexi disc, “Juke Me Baby” by Reginald Cosper Jr., aka Sirr TMo Sama. Cosper builds the track on an ascending, bone-dry percussive pattern, weaving in a few different vocal samples and several drum loops; he never lets up on the gas, […]
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Traxman remixes ‘WAP’; bucket and mop not included
Traxman drops a juke remix of “WAP,” poster artist Frank Okay releases a solo album, and Teklife producer Heavee puts out a kaleidoscopic EP.
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DJ Hank, footwork producer and bike messenger
“Something with the culture just instantly made sense, coming from a punk background. I think footwork music is pretty subversive. It’s raw.”
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Chicago footwork master DJ Taye invokes the rapid pace of our changing times on Pyrot3k
Pop music moves fast: new instructional-dance songs, new Drake songs, and new instructional-dance songs by Drake can bombard the zeitgeist one week and all but evaporate the next. Footwork, the lightning-fast Chicago-born house subgenre, is well suited to capture that frenetic pace. Young footwork master and Teklife member DJ Taye instinctively understands how to combine […]
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Chicago footwork producer DJ Hank takes inspiration from his bike-messenger job for Traffic Control
On the title track of DJ Hank’s debut 12-inch, Traffic Control (Sophomore Lounge), car alarms bleat atop thickets of overactive drums, occasional blown-out hi-hats, hiccuping bass, and a tasteful array of hand claps. At first listen, “Traffic Control” might rattle you just like a real-life car alarm, but thankfully Hank understands how to rearrange anxiety-inducing […]
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Open the Circle teaches footwork because footwork saves lives
Chicago nonprofit Open the Circle works to spread a local Black dance culture that can knit together youth communities.
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Photos from DJ Clent’s Beatdown House Litnic
Some of the biggest names in ghetto house, juke, and footwork played for free at a relaxed party and cookout in Dolton Park.