Eoin Hennessy | Music Editor
Chicago has always been known for its astounding musical heritage. The city pioneered the likes of Blues and Jazz after the effects of the “Great Migration”, a policy of the US Government in the early 20th century that forced the relocation of 6 million African Americans from rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West. This process meant that Chicago became a hub for young black musicians to express their creativity and spawned artists such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Nat King Cole. The city’s musical ability has remained consistent ever since, with Chicago also pioneering punk, pop rock and hip-hop in the 80s and 90s. In recent years, Europe has caught wind of another Chicagoan phenomenon, Juke.
Juke, or Chicago Footwork as is it often called, is a super-fast paced form of electronic music full of claps, snares and lyrics about personal indulgence. Originating in the 90s, the genre’s roots stem from the south and west sides of Chicago. With the city already having such a strongly developed Electronic scene through labels like Trax and artists like Larry Heard and Robert Owens, it made perfect sense for Chicago to develop its own sound. Early 90s Chicago saw the rise of Ghetto House music, a genre made in response to the chilled-out House coming out of both Chicago and Detroit. The result was a high BPM spin-off of house pioneered by DJ Deeon and DJ Funk. Rather than the genre taking off in clubs, as is usually the case, it took hold in local car parks, school gyms and rec centres. Most club promoters were afraid of putting on Ghetto House nights due its association with gang culture and drug abuse. Because of this, the genre became confined to a small scene of beat makers, dancers and MCs.
Most club promoters were afraid of putting on Ghetto House nights due its association with gang culture and drug abuse
Small parties would be held in local parks where people would try and dance to this new genre of Ghetto House. It was at these gatherings that teenagers developed the energetic steps known as footwork; a lightning quick blend of Chicago stepper’s moves, hip-hop’s up-rocking and 90’s rave dancing. The idea, as with all music, was to move your feet in time with the song, but with BPMs upwards of 160, this was no small task. Competition for the dance floor was also fierce. Many dancers would just violently push others out of the way in order to get the floor. Crews were formed as competition continued to heat up. The idea became about not only how quickly you moved your feet, but also how much you got in your opponent’s face. This ruthless element of the culture spawned a new type of music similar to Ghetto House but more raw. Darker sounds were needed in order to get across the heated competition that took place at early Ghetto House parties.
with BPMs upwards of 160, this was no small task
The late 90s brought about a new generation of Ghetto House producers and a new term for the music was born. Although many claims have been made about the source of the word Juke, most believe that it originated with DJ Puncho and Gant-Man. “We were at this high-school party…[when] we heard these girls say, ‘This party is juking’” says Gant-Man. Because of that sentence Gant-Man and Puncho then incorporated the word Juke into a string of mix tapes in the late 90s along with Puncho’s biggest hit “Juke It”. Thus a new genre began. However, despite tracing its roots back to 1998, Europe has only seen the emergence of Juke as a genre over the past 4 years or so. Aside from the Footwork dancers in Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control” video and Dude N Nem’s minor 2007 hit “Watch My Feet”, Juke remained relatively low key in Europe up until very recently. It was not until 2010 that Juke began to take off in the UK and Ireland. This was all thanks to Addison Groove’s infectious hit “Footcrab”. Tony Williams, as he is also known, heard Juke through various mix tapes he’d found while scanning the internet. Once he had discovered it he immediately went about trying to imitate its sounds. Despite being 138 BPM (Juke is normally over 160), all the elements of Footwork were there, lots of 808s, intense snare and a repetitive vocal screaming “footcrab” on repeat. The song went down a treat in most UK clubs and was then later released on vinyl-only label, Swamp81. Although the track was made by an English artist, Williams still paid respects to the original Chicago figureheads. “Footcrab” introduced the music of Chicago to London club goers to great effect.
Shortly after, a compilation album was made by English label Planet Mu. The album was made up of 25 different Juke tracks all made by Chicago artists. Godfathers of the scene like Traxman, RP Boo, DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad were finally heard by the European masses. Almost in retaliation to “Footcrab”, the album Bangs & Works showcased the genre in its natural habitat. A sequel to the album was also made, displaying more of Chicago’s homegrown talents. Smaller artists including the likes DJ Elmoe, DJ Manny and many more, were able to reach music lovers despite being almost 6,000 kilometers away. Recent years have seen other UK labels release Footwork records. Only last week, DJ Rashad’s first solo album got released on Kode9’s Hyperdub label. Despite coming from a background of car park raves and basements dance competitions, Chicago Footwork was able to infiltrate the European electronic music scene. While not all of the artists from the original culture have made it across the pond, enough have to make a significant impact on club society. DJ Spinn and Rashad tour regularly around Europe while Traxman makes occasional appearances in a select few cities. The fast paced dances moves have now been attempted across the globe and it’s only a matter of time before Juke reaches mainstream success.
