Baltimore club

Last updated

Baltimore Club, also called B'more Club, B'more House or simply B'more, is a music genre that fuses breakbeat and house. It was created in Baltimore, Maryland in the early to late 1990s by 2 Live Crew's Luther Campbell, Frank Ski, and DJ K-Swift, among others. [1]

Contents

Baltimore club is based on an 8/4 beat structure, and includes tempos around 130 beats per minute. [2] [3] It combines repetitive, looped vocal snippets similar to trap, bounce, ghetto house and ghettotech and is a sample-based form of breakbeat. Samples used include theme songs from shows like Sanford and Son , SpongeBob SquarePants and Elmo's World . [3] The instrumental tracks include heavy breakbeats and call and response stanzas [4] similar to those found in the go-go music of Washington, D.C. The most prominent breakbeats sampled include "Sing Sing" by disco band "Gaz" [5] [6] and "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins. [7] [6]

History

Origins

Early promoters of Baltimore Club included Scottie B and his colleagues at Unruly Records. [6]

UK breakbeat hardcore records were influential to the genre. "The Blapps!" Records label released several British rave classic records between 1989 and 1992 that have often been sampled by Baltimore producers. "Don't Hold Back", "Too Much Energy" and "Let the Freak" were sampled and played heavily by DJs and producers.[ citation needed ] Other UK breakbeat tracks cited by Baltimore DJs as influential include "On 33" by Stereo MC's, the "State of Mind" EP by Is That It, and "Hoovers & Spray Cans" by Mark One. [8]

The Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard sampler, released in 1992, was used to produce many tracks in the genre. [5] [6]

2000s

In the mid-2000s, the genre gained crossover popularity in Baltimore's rock underground due to dance nights at venues such as the Talking Head Club. Baltimore club was featured in Spin Magazine in December 2005. [9] [7]

Rod Lee was described as "the original don of Baltimore club" by The Washington Post in 2005. [10]

DJ K-Swift was known as a prominent personality in the genre. In addition to DJing at "Hammerjacks" and The Paradox, she hosted a radio show on WERQ-FM from 1998 until her death in 2008. [4]

2010s

In 2019, James Nasty & Soohan's club track "Pop!" was featured in Season 5, episode 4 of the Comedy Central series Broad City . [11]

2020s

Dark City Beneath the Beat, a documentary featuring Baltimore club music, was released on streaming platforms in August 2020. [12]

In 2023, June 17 was declared Baltimore Club Music Day by mayor Brandon Scott. A ceremony recognizing club music pioneers was held at Baltimore's annual AFRAM celebration. [13]

Offshoots

In the 1990s, Baltimore club music developed a cult following in the North Jersey club scene, particularly in the Jersey club genre of Newark, New Jersey developed by DJ Tameil. This spread stemmed from the distribution of mix tapes by traveling Baltimore DJs. There were also many Boston-area radio shows in the mid-1990s that played Baltimore club music. It also spread south to the Virginia club scene and to Alabama where DJ Seven, formerly known as DJ Taj, developed Bamabounce. It had also started to spread to New York City.

Philadelphia and Jersey club music are both subgenres of Baltimore club music, but each evolved separately. As background noises in Baltimore club music increased in popularity, they spread into Philadelphia, where the genre locally developed into what is called Philly club, otherwise referred to "party music." This style is much faster than Baltimore club music and includes elements of hardstyle such as sirens. In contrast, Baltimore club music spread into New Jersey in an entirely different manner. New Jersey DJs were taking runs to Baltimore to pick up the latest club records and bring them back to New Jersey to play at parties. The sounds began to mutate with what local DJs and producers added on and changed. This style became known as Jersey club, which smoothed out the rugged, raw, and violent edges of Baltimore club music.

Baltimore club dance

Baltimore club dance became very popular with Baltimore's African-American community. Throughout the city, dance crews battled against each other at recreation centers and nightclubs, and music from famous disc jockeys was at its peak. These dance moves, created from Baltimore club music, were usually high-paced and intense due to the fact that Baltimore club music evolved from house music and hip hop, two fast-paced music genres.

One move born out of Baltimore club music is the "crazy legs", a shaking of both legs with simultaneous foot tapping and shoulder shrugging. Another dance move that evolved out of Baltimore club music was the “what what”, involving footwork where one raises up one bent leg over the other, in a fast, hopping-like movement. A video featuring girls wearing face coverings while doing versions of the "crazy legs" and the "what what" to a remix of Miss Tony's "How You Wanna Carry It" entitled "Put Your Mask On" went viral in April 2020. [14]

During its peak, Baltimore club DJs received international recognition and were featured on the records of major artists. International recognition given to Baltimore club music and dance was short-lived. Many attribute the downfall of Baltimore club culture to the radio, as new tracks could be listened to without going to the club. The decrease in popularity of Baltimore club culture can also be attributed to the closing of major Baltimore clubs, such as Paradox and Hammerjacks. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drum and bass</span> Type of electronic music

Drum and bass is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast breakbeats with heavy bass and sub-bass lines, samples, and synthesizers. The genre grew out of the UK's jungle scene in the 1990s.

House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120-130 beats per minute as a re-emergence of 1970s disco. It originated in the Black queer community in Chicago. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.

Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK garage styles.

Hip house, also known as rap house or house rap, is a musical genre that mixes elements of house music and hip hop music, that originated in both London, United Kingdom and Chicago, United States in the mid to late 1980s.

Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.

Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture.

Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s. The thing that makes happy hardcore stand apart from happy gabba, is that happy hardcore tends to have breakbeats running alongside the 4/4 kick drum.

Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines and funk. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals; if vocals are present, they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.

In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece. A break is usually interpolated between sections of a song, to provide a sense of anticipation, signal the start of a new section, or create variety in the arrangement.

Bouncy techno is a hardcore dance music rave style that developed in the early 1990s from Scotland and Northern England. Described as an accessible gabber-like form, it was popularised by Scottish DJ and music producer Scott Brown under numerous aliases.

Florida breaks, which may also be referred to as The Orlando Sound, Orlando breaks, or The Breaks, is a genre of breakbeat dance music that originated in the central region of the State of Florida, United States. Florida Breaks originates from a mixture of hip-hop, Miami bass and electro that often includes recognizable sampling of early jazz or funk beats from rare groove or popular film. Florida's breakbeat style feature vocal elements and retains the hip-hop rhythms on which is based. The Florida breakbeat style however is faster, more syncopated, and has a heavier and unrelenting bassline. The beat frequently slows and breaks down complex beat patterns and then rebuilds. The genre has been described as being easy to dance to while creating an uplifting, happy, or positive mood in the listener.

Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.

Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as The Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, Propellerheads, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada.

UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by jungle, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop and R&B. It is defined by percussive, shuffled rhythms with syncopated hi-hats, cymbals, and snares, and may include either 4/4 house kick patterns or more irregular "2-step" rhythms. Garage tracks also commonly feature 'chopped up' and time-stretched or pitch-shifted vocal samples complementing the underlying rhythmic structure at a tempo usually around 130 BPM.

"Sing Sing" is a song by disco-funk band Gaz, a project of keyboardist Thor Baldursson, guitarist Mats Bjoerklund, and producer Jürgen Korduletsch. It appeared on the group's only album, Gaz, and was released as a 12" single in 1978, Salsoul Records catalog number SG206.

The Paradox was a South Baltimore dance club from 1991 to 2016. It was originally a home to house music, but later on got more of a hip hop feel. The club was founded by Wayne Davis.

Jersey club is a style of electronic club music that originated in Newark, New Jersey in the early 2000s. It was pioneered by DJ Tameil and other members of the Brick Bandits crew, who were inspired by Baltimore club's uptempo hybrid of house and hip hop. Other young producers also pushed for the progression of this style of music in the late 2000s.

Deconstructed club, also known as post-club or deconstructed music is an experimental style of electronic dance music characterized by a post-modernist approach and an abrasive or dystopian tone. It stands opposed to the tropes of mainstream club styles, often dispensing with four-on-the-floor beats and stable tempo while mixing eclectic or abrasive sources.

Belgian hardcore techno is an early style of hardcore techno that emerged from new beat as EBM and techno influences became more prevalent in this genre. This particular style has been described as an "apocalyptic, almost Wagnerian, bombastic techno", due to its use of dramatic orchestral stabs and menacing synth tones that set it apart from earlier forms of electronic dance music. It flourished in Belgium and influenced the sound of early hardcore from Netherlands, Germany, Italy, UK and North America during the early-1990s, as a part of the rave movement during that period.

References

  1. ↑ Deveraux, Andrew (December 2007). "What You Know About Down the Hill?": Baltimore Club Music, Subgenre Crossover, and the New Subcultural Capital of Race and Space". Journal of Popular Music Studies. 19 (4): 311–341. doi:10.1111/j.1533-1598.2007.00131.x.
  2. ↑ Reid, Shaheem; Paco, Matt (2007). "Young Leek & the Baltimore Scene". MTV Networks. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  3. 1 2 Bernard, Patrick (2006-07-03). "Scottie B and Baltimore Club". The Wire. Archived from the original on 2008-01-12. Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  4. 1 2 Hiaasen, Rob (21 August 2005). "Breaking Out". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  5. 1 2 Host, Vivian (September 7, 2014). "Sing Sing: A Loop History". Red Bull Music Academy . Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Embert, Casey (21 June 2016). "We Made All This Shit! The history of Unruly Records, which just celebrated 20 years, tells the history of Baltimore club music". Baltimore City Paper. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  7. 1 2 Shipley, Al (2006-01-19). "The Best Of Both Worlds". Baltimore City Paper . Retrieved 2008-01-19.
  8. ↑ "An oral history of Baltimore club". Wax Poetics. 2015-04-30. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  9. ↑ "Dance the Pain Away". Spin. 2005-12-03. Retrieved 2017-06-04.
  10. ↑ Inoue, Todd (July 31, 2005), "Rod Lee, Putting B-More On the Map", The Washington Post
  11. ↑ "BROAD CITY Soundtrack (Season 5) - Songs / Music List". Soundtracks. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  12. ↑ Artist, TT the (2020-08-21), Dark City Beneath the Beat (Documentary), Michael Antonio Hunter, Colada Pen, Jimmy Pope, retrieved 2024-04-05
  13. ↑ "AFRAM kicks off with city's first ever Baltimore Club Music Day". WMAR 2 News Baltimore. 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  14. ↑ "Put Your Mask On (Baltimore)- BALTIMORE CLUB MIX". YouTube. Apr 3, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
  15. ↑ Brittany Britto, Keep the Beat Baltimore Sun

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.