Welcome all music lovers and participants alike! Your music library is a collection, and I intend to help you expand it, one step at a time. The musical term suite pertains to a loose collection of instrumental compositions. I love sharing the new songs/artist/bands etc. that I discover, as well as those I absolutely respect and think people need to know about. So welcome to the suite, keep an open mind, and I hope you enjoy this week’s feature(s)…
Recently, I’ve been reminiscing over high school since the end of my undergraduate career is soon rolling to an end. It’s probably because of all the fun things I used to do that I was involved in. Activities like Art Club, Yearbook Committee, Latino Dance, African Dance, Modern Dance, Track & Field, Choir, Small Band (as a solo singer), and House Dance filled every gap of my schedule after school. As years went by, I had to cut some of those aforementioned activities out of my schedule. The bouncing around from one activity to the next for almost six hours after school would have been too much as I went into my senior year. Fast-forward five years, and here I am, a college senior only involved in two groups and fighting to maintain my GPA while working through school. I only have but so much free time to engage in activities that once gave me release from my day. So what’s a girl to do?
Whether it’s simply singing along to a record, writing a poem and turning it into your own song, or just moving your body to some upbeat tempos, getting free is something that I need—something that all of us need every now and then.
House music is my preferred music of choice to just let go, feel inspired, and to rejuvenate my soul. “House” music originates from the early 1980’s in Chicago and is named after the records that were played in the club The Warehouse. The Warehouse was founded by Robert Williams and people (mostly black and Latino) came to dance to the music played by the club’s first resident, DJ Frankie Knuckles. Although a wide variety of music was played there, the first to be played at the club was RnB and Disco. DJ Frankie Knuckles is known for his experimenting with the expression of music by mixing disco, European electronic music, RnB, and even Soul music. Knuckles was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame for his achievements. He is also a record producer and remixer, often known as “The Godfather of House Music.”
So, What is House Music Anyways? This video does an awesome job at showing the many responses that you will hear if you ask House music listeners what it is.
Over the years, House music has evolved and developed sub-categories such as Deep House and Euro-House, and has also inspired other genres like Trance. House music has spread across the nation and even brought people of all likes together. For example, I was exposed to the vogue houses in New York City that some of my gay (LGBTQ to be inclusive) friends used to go to on the weekend to dance in competitions. House music also eventually made its ways to Europe, where many will claim that it really took off and became well known.
Just like any music genre and style, House music is an acquired taste. I must admit that not too many take well to the constant thump and repetitive rhythm because people love change and dynamics. At the same time, people are very accustomed to not actually paying attention to the lyrics of songs. House tracks have quite some amazing lyrics, and that is basically one of the reasons why people who love House will continue to love House. It is a great thing to see that even though the sound of House music may change over the years, mixers and remixers stay true to the quality of the lyrics and meaning about the track. So enough rambling from me; I hope you got a little bit more information about what actual House music is and where it came from.
So please get into it, let loose, shake something and “jack your body!”
Here are some classic tracks that I love:
- Ralphi Rosario- You Used To Hold Me (1987)
- Cajmere- Percolator
- Mutiny UK- New Horizon
- Paleface- Do You Mind ft. Kyla (Crazy Cousins Remix)
- Black Coffee- Superman ft. Bucie
- Marc Evans- Given Me Joy (Lovebirds Suite Vocal) by DJ Spen [One of my favorite House DJs, pictured below!]
Although this is not actually categorized as House, there are still the same elements from House that I love about it (Deadmau5- Move For Me). Driving to this song is amazing, and I’ve even played it while getting ready to go out on the weekends!
I know some of you may be curious about how people actually dance to House music so here are a few choreographies that I found when I was first getting into it and that still love today.
Of course there are many more choreographies out there, and certainly more that incorporate actual moves that have been associated with House music. At the end of the day, House music is just a genre, but it’s more than that; House is a FEELING.