Father of Footwork

RP Boo - The Isleys

RP Boo was basically the godfather of footwork as a genre of music, taking juke from a 4-on-the-floor house pattern to the bent bass that not only changed the sound forever, but I'm sure changed dancing as well. One of his pivotal moments was when he butchered the pitch of a now deceased Wu Tang member's voice into an even more staggering utterance on Baby Come On and invented what most people think is a Nateism. Truth is Nate was in like kindergarten at the time and due to pre-Youtube era most people outside of Chicago don't know much, if anything about RP. He was also part of House - O - Matics along with several other DJs back in the mid 90s, one of the OG footwork crews. Never really receiving the credit he is due, it is essential that he be included on this blog.

Battle Groundz

I'm psyched to see that these videos are making their rounds on the interwebs. Battle Groundz is a great community of footworkers, DJs, and friends that do the damn thing regardless of struggle for a permanent space. Some of the best dancers in the city can be found "there", media coverage or not, and the spirit of competition meshing with kids just hanging out defines what goes on. Luckily my homie Neema tapes these on the regular, and has thrown a bunch of mind blowing videos up on youtube which you can see here. If you think this culture is dead in Chicago it's most likely because your showing up at Smart Bar expecting NOT to hear the same mixes people make for the internet. You can chalk some of that that up to the extraordinary segregation that on takes place in this city, but your still kind of lazy.

Juke This

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Footwork Flicks

I took some shots of the Sunday night Battlegroundz crew that you can check out on my flickr "Footwork" set. It translates pretty poorly to photos, but I tried. Not having a good flash doesn't make it much easier either. Keep checking it for more attempts in the future.

Wooo

DJ Pat Man - Wooo

Strangely enough, I have about 5 footwork tracks with the same title, all of which use a different sample but sound almost the same. Similarly looking into phonetics like the broad range of there's some ____ in this house, if you see em point em out, or When/my ____ , I______, __ ___ ___ and get excited, and other patterns in the ghetto house spectrum. Except with naivety of composition that results in the playful nature some of us tend to lean towards. If you liked the Killa E track I posted before, this is lush like the kind of sounds that get shoegazer bands wet.

Jitterbugs

The roots of footwork go back to the early 1900s in Detroit and Chicago, but obviously you can go on forever connecting the dots back the beginning of time. However, it's probably more interesting to take it one step at a time because while I like to believe music is all caveman grunts in the end, that label cloud on the right makes it hard to back up my theory. We are lucky to have some video proof of the existence of older dance crews available to us, this particular individual being Freaky Will who was important to the new wave of footwork dating back to the late 80s jit scene that rode the ghettotech wave.

For a deeper reading into Detroit history, go here.

I'm Ready

DJ Assault - I'm Ready vs Footwork (from Straight Up Detroit Shit vol 4 2000)

Don't be fooled because this isn't exactly straight up Detroit shit. This is straight up classic italo matched to Waxmasters footwork anthem, possibly requiring more than just sliding up the pitch control. Back before laptops but during the rise of ghettotech it's rumored that DJs would actually break open their Technics and solder in more powerful potentiometers to speed slower records up faster than the turntables could handle. I believe I even heard a story about somebody using a power drill to get the plates to spin faster or something ridiculous, but I can't seem to find my sources at the moment. In general these Assault mixtapes are good, with lots of surprises such as this one. I can't help but think about old Jeff Mills sets, done a bit faster.

Juke This

DOWNLOAD (datpiff link)

Originally, this was going to be part of the "Weird Mixtapes" focus, not due to the sounds it contains but due to the fact that it's really the only juke tape on Datpiff. The only one worth hearing at least and believe me, it's well worth hearing.

Beatz is a rapidly upcoming producer from Englewood and this tape is sort of like the demo version of his actual Juke That vol 1 mixtape dropping on the 23rd of this month. Instead of picking a side, he's taken the club aspect of juke and brought it up at a footworkers anonymous meeting. Ass poppin with adrenaline levels off the charts. A few words from the man himself:

"WHAT GOOD CHICAGO.....IM GOING TO TAKE JUKE ,FOOTWORK ,AND HOUSE MUSIC TO THE NEXT LEVEL!!! MAINSTREAM!!! ITS UP TO US (DJ FROM CHICAGO) TO KEEP JUKE,FOOTWORK,HOUSE MUSIC ALIVE FOR THE NEXT GEN... IN CHICAGO AND THAT'S COMING UP IN THE WORLD!!!! TO MY LADIES(SEXY SEXY LADIES).. 2 THINGS WHEN U SEE ME GIVE .....ME A HUG!!!!! AND TO THE TIME I WANT TO SEE U POP THEM BOOTIES...JUKE THAT VOL 1!!!!! IS FULL OF BANGERS....OLD AND NEW JUKE,,FOOTWORK MADE BY YOURS TRUELY ALL ON 1 CD...(MIXTAPE PARTY DATE AND LOCATION WILL BE ANNOUNCED).. TO THE TIME IM HAPPY THAT I WAS BIRTHED IN CHICAGO ... WHICH IM ABLE TO MAKE THIS TYPE OF MUSIC!!!! CHICAGO IS NEXT UP!!!!!

Preview his upcoming tape here.

Oohhhhooooohhhohohhhoooaaaaaaaaoohhh

DJ Killa E - Track 6

Melodramatic dreamy footwork at its best, almost shoegaze romanticism. Reflections of high school daze and even a bit of a downer. Not so danceable, this is some loner shit.

As I mentioned on Twitter after a few beers, I have hundreds of footwork tracks that I've found throughout the last year or so rummaging through weird websites and ripping iMeem and Youtube videos, as well as some mixtapes. I'd like to share them, for that's the reason I started this blog in the first place. Communication and taking advantage of technology when used right creates good musical dialog. Living in the same city as these kids gives you the chance to see kids on the streets and at showcases busting moves, but age barriers and neighborhood squabbles can prevent contact. These kids are less interested in being part of some "study" and more interested at this point of their lives in being broadcast on local radio, making some money, and well, dancing. You can watch Walacam videos and see how obvious it is that they don't need blogs to promote themselves, they have the media in their own hands. Not to say I haven't been trying, and have been a bit more successful lately now that the kids are getting older and have moved on from Myspace to Facebook. An underground that still exists with the internet that still remains fully physical.

Yall Ain't Got No Basics

You won't learn how to make demonic loop music pulled from shitty TV pop, but this video gives you the idea of basics, the fundamentals of footwork. Dude is apologetic about the dog barking the whole time too. So start working on your Mike & Ikes and Tom & Jerrys.

Killing Yourself To Live

Traxxman - Is He Live Or Dead (Black Sabbath Footwork remix)

This one is to be used for fun ONLY. I would have preferred Sweet Leaf, especially if there was a lot emphasis on the coughing from the beginning.

Born By The River...

Tha Pope - Everybody Bob (from The King of Bob)

Everybody in the city knows this guy. He's the self-proclaimed "Youngest Celebrity" in Chicago and even has a shoe deal with K Swiss. Probably more famous locally than DJ Nate, but less so on the internet stalker tip. Still, outsiders might have seen his Lion King or Sam Cooke footwork tracks via Youtube, and hopefully you caught the Bob That Back Down brazenly Merengue remix I posted last year. I don't own a pair of roller skates, but he is a big deal at the rink down on 82nd street too and makes girls scream like the fantastic four in a roomful of preteens. Dude's a player that happens to make Footwork tracks, usually sounding a bit less angry at the world but dope nonetheless. Unfortunately this track is a real short snippet from a mix tape from a few years ago, but with a bit of editing it could work well as a transitional track into a maelstrom of tom toms. Don't yell at me if that gets you in trouble though, as dance patrons tend to have weak ankles.

Oh yeah, he's probably the only musician on this site that hails from the north side (he's from Rodgers Park aka "The North Pole" aka 60626 aka too far for me to spend much time in) rather than the south or west sides, which I find kind of funny. I could be wrong though, as there's a chance I shared some Curtis Mayfield once.

3/21/2010

Go to the Portage Theatre on the northside this Sunday for the footworkers and DJs awards. A great chance to check out some dancing, meet some of the local DJs, and hang out with a bunch of high school kids. It should be a lot of fun, doors open at 3pm, 12$ advance, 15$ at the door.

Enough of the Talk, Let's Show 'Em What You Got

Not the only Footwork music video out there, but the only one I know with smoke machines and a teacher that jukes(!!!). SO POSITIVE.

"It's After The End Of The World, Don't You Know That Yet?"

DJ Trouble Minimix

Imagine a footwork battle in a Mad Max movie and your close. Imagine a Nurse With Wound album made on Fruity Loops and your closer. Sure, Nate sold his soul to the devil in return for a Rap career but this is an even darker shade of black. A cold and hopeless Midwest winter science fiction soundtrack made in a vacant board-up with tape loops and a drum machine, almost free of references despite being music for your feet. More questionable than most things that make me worry about the youth. DJ Trouble remains a bigger mystery to me than any other Chicago DJ who doesn't answer emails, and as far as I know he has almost no web presence. I'm almost convinced he doesn't exist but the kids say he's real. I guess you don't actually need a Myspace to be among the living, and along with his fellow tradesmen he's proof thisstuff doesn't only exist on the internet. Still, it's perfect "I'm not going out tonight" music. This short little mix I found mislabeled as DJ Nate is all three of his tracks I know of, somewhat mixed together. DJ Trouble, if your out there get at me. We need to have a talk. I'm worried.

"I Wanna Learn How to Footwork"

First Lil B announces he's doing a footwork mixtape, then the New Boyz hang out in Chicago and discuss dance moves with the locals. Juke's biggest supporter these days is the Jerkin scene, almost keeping it alive on a national level. You don't even see this kind of blending going on in the Midwest so much. It's a beautiful thing.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

DJ Slugo - Respect My Grine vol 1,2,3

Slugo was kind enough to give away his previous volumes of his Respect My Grine mixtape series while he's finishing volume 4 up. For those of you that don't know, the series covers local Chicago talent, much of the time shedding light onto the young artists making music in the city. Generally comprised of local rappers, you will find the likes of Tha Pope, DJ Nate, and sometimes people I know (what's up Khallee?). Definitely for those interested in following what the kids are doing Hip-Hop wise in the city today.

Buckets

While I'm not willing to give up, this is probably the closest Juke will ever come to Go-Go.

"VERY COMPLICATED"

DJ Nate - S.A.S.

DJ NATE , BEING A VERY CURIOUS AND TALENTED PERSON , HE FOUND A "BOOTLEG WAY TO RECORD LOL" SO THEY DECIDED TO RECORD AND RAP MIXTAPE ON THE SOUND RECOREDER PROGRAM , WHICH APPEARS ON EVERY WINDOWS COMPUTER. WHAT THEY DID , WAS THEY HAD USED A SMALL RADIO TO PLAY THE INSTRUMENTALS , AND USED A COMPUER MIC, TO RECORD THE BEAT AND THEIR VOCALS AT THE SAME TIME "VERY COMPLICATED , BUT THEY MADE IT HAPPENED , COMPARED TO HOW THERE MUSIC SOUNDS NOW , THAT WAS WEEK BACK THEN LOL!, BUT NOW, ANYTIME THEY NEED TO RECORD , THEY ATTEND DIFFERENT STUDIOS , AND RECORD BOOTS TO MAKE STREET POERTY , AND AS FAR AS NEW INSTRUMENTALS , DJ NATE , AND DJ PRODIGY MAKES MAGICAL BEATS , I MEEN THE REAL DEAL BEATS THAT RAPPERS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WOULD LOVE TO PURCHASE FOR A HIT SONG, ENUFF SAID , "GET IT SQUAD WE THA FUTURE"

Clean Like Dish Detergent

DJ Pillsbury - Swag Surfin (Juke Remix) 2009

So aggressive it's pretty much a Footwork remix. Just barely daytime radio-friendly, though I've heard DJ Nehphis play it before.