Women Do It Better!
There Is Hope
DJ Debbie Graham
2000
The Queen, Atlanta’s icon DJ Debbie Graham playing Dennis Ferrer’s featuring Mia Tuttavilla “Touch The Sky” (7th Star Vocal Mix) blows the roof off Pisces, formerly the Sound Table on Edgewood Blvd in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, one block away from the King Center on the most bitter night of this cold-hearted year. After all this is MLK Day. When Atlanta loves to party rock. As various promoters will throw multiple engagements on the same night. Eight pm has arrived and it’s time to party with purpose.
As you enter the remodeled brick and mortar and stand underneath white bullhorn speakers, you find the dance floor is warmed and brimming with love. Look around, there are more women dancing to Dennis Ferrer’s “P To Da J” than not. This floor is your refuge, a sanctuary from the outside apocalypse.
See the smiles, hear the laughter, feel the joy. There is no trouble in the room. Except for the fog machine that is anatomized by Pisces’s owner, Ree de la Vega as Marlon D’s “Jesus Creates Sound” (Main Mix) plays-the soulful sounds these young kids are keeping alive! “I love you dancing,” says a Queen crowned with long braids twirling in the air as her denim hugged hips sways with the spirit of dance that lives at a Mood To Move gathering.
Mood To Move is an anomaly. More than a mere party, the movement is stomping across Houston to Atlanta and beyond. Founded in 2022, by Espee, the one-man pioneer is now a burgeoning collective, mtm is juvenile but acts with aged authenticity. Take this event’s curated narrative-an all women of color line-up. There is hope after all.
Women Do It Better
Atlantans, Ash Lauryn to Alexis Curshé have played Mood to Move, as tonight’s must-see headliner, DJ Minx from Detroit will play in the open-window booth. Where Jamaica born DJ Debbie Graham’s open-arm embrace transfers selector duties to a younger woman of Afro-Caribbean descent. Be careful not to mistake her oval eyes and girl next door vibe for the late pop princess-Aaliyah Haughton. Born Chalane Bauzo, she is AKA the other A-Anónima.
A heavy four-count jolts the heart. As a low hum slaps the air. Snares hiss as hi-hats clash. The build up of stuttering drums from the classic Roland TR-808 throws back to early 90’s garage. Folks, the room’s temperature can’t get any hotter.
It does. “It’s 100 degrees up in here,” you yell to DJ Deb over Floorplan’s “We Magnify His Name” that pulls arms into the air and makes hands clap. Booman’s “God’s Got It” (DJ Spen & Troy Morton ReWork) puts the sanctified and brings the Holy Ghost to Monday night church. Kenny Bobien’s “Let Me Show You” (DJ Spen Mix) is the classic that Kai Alcé dropped at MJQ’s Adult Skate the previous night. And what is a service without playing the Baltimore native who tore up a barely there crowd at Eagle Atlanta last night-Karizma’s “Work It Out?”
Gem after gem. Assurance after assurance. Anónima delivers an uplifting sermon of hope. But how is it that you have never heard of the Atlanta resident? And why is she not playing amongst the coveted selectors the city has to offer? And why is she not being introduced to new audiences?
Real talk. The best parties are where the young people are. A new collective of diggers and selectors are on an upward trajectory. After all, they will not be ignored. Their time is now. And the elder gatekeepers of deep & soulful house music must face the music.
Facing the Music
To the elders. House music did not begin with you. To the elders. House music does not die with you. To everyone. House music is much larger than any one man or woman, house music is movement, a movement that will live on with or without us.
The willingness to ensure that deep soulful house music is sustainable is threefold through mentorship, support, and self-expression.
The novice are looking to be mentored. To be taught by the masters is an honor. To hone their skills in time-honored tradition is to keep the quality of craft alive, and its essence alive. Elder states people can support their apprentices by attending their mentee’s events or by inviting their apprentice to play at said mentor’s events. No ego. The attitude of embracing and accepting and allowing new music selectors to interpret their style through creative self-expression is vital to growth. Everyone must be intentional in maintaining intergenerational spaces that are inclusive and safe for all. Audiences must cross-pollinate. The youngsters dancing alongside the veterans who teach dance floor etiquette, the language of movement and the love of music will further enhance the cause. Real talk. You can’t fault, if you haven’t taught.
Look around the premises to be mind-blown, there are no cellphones. These youthful visages are not glued to glowing screens of gambling, gaming or social media apps. Wow! People are lost in the groove.
And these kids are singing! “Don’t you ever give up, cause you’re gonna make it.” Vocalist Melonie Daniels croons on the Innervision classic-the Frankie Feliciano Ricanstruction Vocal. The sound and sight is a tearjerker.
There Is Hope
This year the King Holiday has greater significance, as nine days later, a letter will circumnavigate the Pentagon pausing King and other diversity celebrations. As Dr. MLK vowed to keep infinite hope alive, we have to do the same. We must keep infinite hope not only for the music-but for the culture, the community, and the content. The time is now, more than ever, the party people must continue to fight for diversity, equality and inclusion. We must fight for the marginalized, the oppressed and those without representation in our dance communities. Women must continue to wage war. Tonight is war! And to everyone, “don’t you ever give up, cause you’re gonna make it.” After all, house music is hope.
wrds: aj dance
grphc: aj art
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Tags: #dancefloormagic #housemusicexcellence, Anonima, Atlanta Georgia, classic house music, dancing, deep house music, DJ Debbie Graham, DJ Minx, house music, house music dancing, MLK Holiday, Mood To Move, Pisces, Ree De La Vega, she jays, soulful house music, women