Michael Cox, known by the stage name MikeQ, is an American DJ, musician, music producer, and prominent figure in the ballroom community. He is the founder of the record label Qween Beat. In 2020 MikeQ was the DJ for HBO's Legendary. [1]
Michael Cox, known by the stage name MikeQ, is an American DJ, musician, music producer, and prominent figure in the ballroom community. He is the founder of the record label Qween Beat. In 2020 MikeQ was the DJ for HBO's Legendary. [1]
Michael Cox was born in Hackensack, New Jersey and grew up in Newark. [2] He was first exposed to the ballroom scene in 2003, when the 17-year-old Cox attended an LGBT+ party at The Globe, a now defunct venue in Newark. [2] In 2004 he began to release music and joined the House of LaBeija. In September 2005, he DJ'ed his first gig at The Globe.
MikeQ's style has been described by The New York Times as "ecstatic ballroom house", and by Resident Advisor and Fact as "Spine Snapping". [3] [4] He has DJ'ed numerous parties, balls, and events primarily in New York City and New Jersey, but also London, [5] [6] Los Angeles, Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, Mexico, Australia, and Seoul, including events with MoMa PS1, Unsound Festival, Opening Ceremony, Turrbotax, Icee Hot, Ghetto Gothic, Fade To Mind & Night Slugs party nights, and Boiler Room. [7] [8] MikeQ released his debut EP in 2011, "Let At All Out", on Fade to Mind. The EP includes "The Ha Dub Rewerk'd", an interpretation of the ballroom staple by Vjuan Allure, "The Ha Allure" (1999). [9] [10]
In 2017 he co-founded the "House of Vouge" party in New York City. [11] He is the resident DJ on the TV show Legendary .
He produced the music for the 2016 film Kiki , directed by Sara Jordenö, which documents ball culture. [12] [13]
MikeQ has released music with Fade To Mind, Qween Beat, Mad Decent and Night Slugs. He has also done production for Kelela, Future Brown, and Brodinski, among others. [3]
MikeQ’s “Feel’s Like” Featuring ballroom commentator Kevin Jz Prodigy was sampled in 2022 on the Beyoncé “Renaissance” Album on the track “Pure/Honey”. [14]
Qween Beat is a record label founded by MikeQ in 2012. It focuses on vogue and ballroom tracks, re-edits, and remixes. Qween Beat has put out releases with numerous artists including Divoli S'vere, Zebra Katz, Ash B., Jay R Neutron, and Koppi Mizrahi. [15]
 |
MikeQ has been an advocate for ballroom, often acting as an ambassador and steward for taking ballroom culture into the mainstream. He has also been a critic of its appropriation by corporations that do not understand or give proper credit to the ballroom community. [16] [17] [18] [2] [19]
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.
Masters at Work is the American garage house production and remix team of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The duo has produced music together under the names MAW, KenLou, Sole Fusion, Hardrive, and Nuyorican Soul. They have been referred to as one of the most influential artists in the history of house music.
Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It is inspired by the poses of models in fashion magazines.
Carl Cox is a British house and techno club DJ, as well as radio DJ and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
Sven Väth is a German DJ and electronic music producer. He is a three-time DJ Awards winner, and his career in electronic music spans over 30 years. The single "Electrica Salsa" with OFF launched his career in 1986. Referred to as "Papa Sven" by his fans, Sven Väth has made his mark in the music community by being one of Germany's pop stars in the nineties, running two night clubs in Germany, and starting his own company Cocoon, which encompasses a booking agency, record label, and a branch for events. He is recognized for cultivating the underground electronic music scene not just in Germany but in Ibiza as well, with his own night at Amnesia for eighteen years and after-parties at creative locations around the island. Sven Väth is a major proponent of vinyl, using only two decks and a mixer for his extensive DJ sets, his longest set having been 30 hours.
The Ballroom scene is an African-American and Latino underground LGBTQ+ subculture. Its origins can be found in drag balls of the mid-19th century United States, such as those hosted by William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved Black man in Washington D.C.. By the early 20th century, integrated drag balls were popular in cities such as New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. In the mid-20th century, as a response to racism in integrated drag spaces, the balls evolved into house ballroom, where Black and Latino attendees could "walk" in a variety of categories for trophies and cash prizes. Most participants in ballroom belong to groups known as "houses," where chosen families of friends form relationships and communities separate from their families of origin, from which they may be estranged. The influence of ballroom culture can be seen in dance, language, music, and popular culture, and the community still exists today.
Nicolas Jaar is a Chilean-American composer and recording artist based in New York. Among his notable works are the albums Space Is Only Noise (2011), Sirens (2016), and Cenizas (2020). He has also released two albums as one half of his band Darkside and two further albums under the alias Against All Logic.
Aisha Diori is an Events Director, Community Mobiliser, HIV/AIDS Preventionist, educator, Talk Show Host, Event MC, Pan-Africanist, and has been named "Iconic Mother" in Ball culture. Her father is Abdoulaye Hamani Diori, a Nigerien political leader and business person, and her mother is Betty Graves, the first Ghanaian / Nigerian woman to own a travel agency in Nigeria.
"Kiki" is a term which started in ballroom culture and has recently been brought back to slang by the LGBTQIA+ community, is loosely defined as a gathering of friends for the purpose of gossiping and chit-chat, and later made more famous in the 2012 song "Let's Have a Kiki" by the Scissor Sisters.
Gabber is a style of electronic dance music and a subgenre of hardcore techno, as well as the surrounding subculture. The music is more commonly referred to as hardcore, which is characterised by fast beats, distorted and heavy kickdrums, with dark themes and samples. This style was developed in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the 1990s by producers like Marc Acardipane, Paul Elstak, DJ Rob, and The Prophet, forming record labels such as Rotterdam Records, Mokum Records, Pengo Records and Industrial Strength Records.
Leiomy Maldonado, known as the "Wonder Woman of Vogue", is a transgender Puerto Rican dancer, instructor, model, activist, and ballroom dancer. She is the founder of the House of Amazon and best known for her voguing. Maldonado introduced a new style of voguing which is more athletic and dramatic when she entered into the scene in early 2000s New York.
The House of Aviance is one of the "legendary/iconic" and major vogue-ball houses in the United States, with its base in New York City. It was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1989 by voguer/dancer, record label owner (CEO/A&R), nightclub host, music artist and secretary Mother Juan Aviance—one of the nightlife personalities of New York City. Since its founding, the House has played an integral part in U.S. and world ball culture, especially U.S. nightlife.
Mother Juan Aviance is an American secretary, voguer / dancer, music artist, nightclub host / promoter, record label owner, and CEO / A&R. He is the founder and "Mother" of the House of Aviance, one of the legendary houses that emerged from the U.S. ball culture in the 1980s, a House which is still active today and "currently reigns the club scene in New York City." He is also founder, CEO and A&R of Aviance Records, LLC, a multi-genre record label that promotes new and upcoming artists. He is regarded as a "legend / icon" within the ballroom scene and is "House Mother" to the nightlife personalities and recording artists Kevin Aviance, and Erickatoure Aviance.
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.
DJ Nita known as Nita Aviance is a dancer, percussionist, jazz singer, DJ, music producer, actor, and a member of The Carry Nation along with fellow DJ/producer Will Automagic. Nita is also half of two other production teams, BOOKWRMZ and Brooklyn Is Burning, as well as a member of the production team Pyramide.
Tameil Paynes is an American disc jockey and record producer from Newark, New Jersey. He is credited with pioneering the Jersey club style of dance music in the late 1990s, drawing influence from Baltimore club and Chicago house. He is a member of the Brick Bandits, a collective of pioneering Newark musicians.
Dashaun Wesley is an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and ballroom performer, MC, and commentator. He is known for hosting the voguing competition series Legendary and for his appearances on the television series America's Best Dance Crew and Pose. He is often called the "King of Vogue".
"Energy" is a song by American singer Beyoncé featuring Jamaican rapper Beam. It is the fifth track on the former's seventh studio album Renaissance (2022), which was released on July 29, 2022, through Parkwood and Columbia. The song serves as an interlude between "Cuff It" and "Break My Soul".
Kevin Jz Prodigy is a Ballroom commentator, music producer and singer from Philadelphia.