AJ Dance Legacy

Black Coffee
The Entertainer

“That shit was as brutal as watching “Black Adam.” You tweet walking to your vehicle from the club. Feeling the chill in the air. Disappointed. Thinking.

Whereas, having recently witnessed Derrick Carter and Osunlade play heart and soul music, with conviction. Black Coffee plays music that entertains. He is an entertainer. Who now plays Hollywood house. Music with no authenticity.

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OVEOUS

So what does an OVEOUS playlist sound like?  The music that Osunlade plays.  Percolating percussions.  Meditative melodies.  Ancestreal chants.  A major difference being OVEOUS spits verses, live.  Holding in hand a microphone he raps, “Find your friends on the dance floor. Or make new friends on the dance floor.”  Osunlade and OVEOUS are arguably interchangeable.  The latter having been mentored by the Yoruba priest, is a member of the Yoruba Recordings family.  Debuted as OVEOUS MAXIMUS, he first released, “I Apologize” (The Remixes) over a decade earlier.  The Ezel Remix brings back fond memories when the music selector sings, “I’m so sorry. (3X) I apologize.”  That has you mouthing along in harmony.

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Collective Minds

“We don’t care about y’all.

If you over dance, we don’t have insurance to cover you.”

Perhaps, Baltimore’s DJ Oji should use a more suitable palette of words. After all, the festival’s attendees feel a certain way.  After their saga began hours earlier.

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Collective Minds

Twelve hours and a near two hour flight later, you stare in the face of adversity.  The soles of your Balenciaga sneakers treading on gravel makes that crunching sound.  While walking?  Yes, walking.  And walking a fair distance too.  That’s sad.  Today’s soulful house music’s target audience is age fifty plus.  People would be upset seeing their mother or grandmother footing several kilometers to a music festival.  Shuttle vans should transport the elders to and fro in AC.  Instead their hands pull coolers.  Their arms cradle shopping bags.  And their backs tote luggage for close to a mile.   

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PARTY I

THE TOURISTS

0100

“LOUIE VEGA COME ON!” Yells an overzealous Vega fan holding a vinyl record.
“LOUIE. I WANNA HEAR SOME OF THAT HAL-LE-LUJIAH!” He sings.
“LOUIE PLAY THAT BLACK MUSIC.” He continues. “Then watch all these kids leave the room.” (more…)

Party II

THE PURISTS
0235

“COMING THROUGH. DJ COMING THROUGH.” Security courteously yelled. There is no shock that LV has an entourage of eight that trekked through the thick mass of privilege minutes earlier. After all, Louie is the host with the most. His charm oozing through the soundtrack he curates. His ability to make any cast of characters feel inclusive. The music he plays is diverse. Journey through disco, house, gospel, classic house, deep, dark, Afro/Latin, to ancestral. All the while, his playlists embody warmth. Never cold or distant. Calculated on the fly. Ethereal in essence. Spiritual to the core. (more…)

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Late night, the temperature reads a chilly 43-degrees, up in these streets, at the intersection of Ivan Allen Junior Blvd and Marietta. The soul awakens. From muffled thumps of bass heard in the distance. The hypnotic groove guides the body ever so closer to the pulsating nucleus. A black building. Covered windows. Littered with paper flyers. Destination affirmed. The pearly whites appear on the doorman’s smile. ID? Check. Ticket? Scanned. Proof of vax? Test? Or mask? Yeah. This is going to be one of those nights. Sweaty. Dirty. Nasty. Just #discoandhousemusicexcellence to purview. (more…)

OSUNLADE

2300

Twenty-five dollars cash to park! GTFOH. Betta forget about street parking too. Onward the parking quest continues. When music spills over brick edges onto black asphalt. Where groups of melanin hourglasses wearing lemonade braids with sneakers tread. Along the historic of avenues – Auburn.

This is just another hot boy summer Saturday night in these streets. Or is it? As twenty minutes later, the parking conundrum is solved. However, the question remains. Next trip drive solo, again? Or pay $90 round-trip to be chauffeured in a rideshare? Things that make you go “Hmmm.”

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Lend me your ear. To be told of what makes legends. Organic rhythm meets ancestral royalty. Playing for the divinities.

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The House of Kerri Chandler

7 hour set

“BAR-A-THYM”

Handclap,

Bop, bop

Bop, bop,

Bop, bop,

Handclap,

Thump.

Then a lo-fi hum swaggers over shuffling four-counts of claps. Dancers breakout the farmer and the chase. When the DJ drops “Useless,” he means business.

Playtime is over when “Coro” plays. The Kaoz 6:23 Dark Mix delivers a beat down. Feet respond with crisscross steps and jazz shuffles.

From there the playlist meanders into hard garage with amped thumps and techie twisted elegance. AKA, bro music. Those wearing sunglasses, khakis and loafers steadily stream in and out of glass doors.

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