With the hopes of amplifying Black voices in the EDM space, I’m sharing with you my favorite Black house and techno artists. I hope you learn a little more about these artists that I know and love.
MK
Born in Detroit, MK started DJing in the late ’80s and had more garage and Chicago influences with his house music. He left electronic music for a little in the 2000s and worked with Will Smith and Pitbull then returned to house music in the early 2010s.
I saw him once at Seismic Dance Event in 2019. His remixes are some of my faves as well as his original songs like 17, Back and Forth, Piece of Me, etc. I can go on and on.
Favorite Mix: Dirtybird Campout Mix https://soundcloud.com/dirtybirdrecords/mk-live-from-dirtybird-campout-east-coast
Favorite Live Set: Creamfields 2019
Idris Elba
Some of you may know him as a famous actor, but he started learning about DJing when he was 14 in London. He started spinning at clubs in the 90s while his acting career was taking off and he moved to the US where he played in a lot of roles we know. He’s recently begun playing a lot more US festivals like EDC and Seismic Dance Event. I saw a portion of his set at Seismic last year and it was a vibe. He’s also been releasing a lot more house music lately.
Favorite Song: Ballie
Favorite Mix: Elrow London
https://soundcloud.com/user-674209995/idris-elba-live-set-elrow-london
Honey Dijon
Born and raised in Chicago, she is transgender and an advocate for trans-rights and awareness. She’s collaborated with Louis Vuitton and Dior for runway shows. I love her mixing skills are insane watching her live sets, she is known for curating cross-genre sets. I would consider some of her influence in house which is why I included her in this list.
Favorite Song: Ooh La La Remix
Favorite Set: Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain
Green Velvet
The legend, the king, we love Green Velvet. He has been in the game for over 25 years. He launched his own record label in 1993, Relief Records, he’s known for his green mohawk. Style is more in the tech-house sub-genre. Guaranteed your booty will be shaking at his show. I’ve seen him so many times and it’s always so much fun.
Favorite Song: Flash, Voicemail, Chance, WOW, Jolean, Deceive, Space Date
Set to Checkout: Green Velvet & Claptone — Day Party
Carl Cox
OH YES OH YES
Daddy of acid house, techno, pioneer, king of Ibiza, ugh we love Carl Cox. He was one of the founders of disco house music in the British Rave Scene and began producing in the 1990s. He eventually would bring the underground sounds of techno to the forefront and making it popular as we know it today. I mean the man has his own stage at Ultra, Carl Cox’s Megastructure.
Saw him for the first time at CRSSD and later that week at a show in Austin before the pandemic hit.
Favorite Song: Finder – Carl Cox Remix
Favorite Set: Cercle in France
Gene Farris
He is a bonafide Chicago legend who has been around for close to three decades. You can find his music on Relief, Dirtybird, Spinnin Deep, Defected, all big players in the house genre labels. I haven’t gotten a chance to see him yet and definitely want to soon. He has a good uppity tech-house vibe.
Favorite Song: Nursery
Set to Checkout: Toolroom Radio
https://soundcloud.com/toolroomrecords/toolroom-radio-ep514-presented-by-gene-farris
Mason Maynard
Coming from Manchester, Mason Maynard started to make himself known when he was 21. He became one to watch by BBC Radio and Solardo. Makes tech-house with catchy melodies and lyrics. He has had releases on Repopulate Mars, Defected, and Relief Records and recently released a collaboration with Green Velvet on an EP
Fave Song: Drop It – Mason Maynard Remix
Favorite Set: IN THE XONE: 007 | CLUB SPACE, MIAMI, USA
https://soundcloud.com/masonmaynard/itx_space
Jamie Jones
I’ve been diving more into Jamie Jones lately and have been really liking his vibe. He’s from Wales and has been producing since the early 2000s. He owns the record label Hot Creations which has had releases by Audiojack, Detlef, Lee Foss, Patrick Topping, and Solardo.
Fave Song: Bappi
Favorite Set: Mixmag The Lab Paris
Octave One
This is a techno duo from Detroit that started in the late 80s. Extremely talented as their live techno sets are entirely mixed live with various instruments.
I saw them at a Vibe Vessel event, live mixing, their whole setup is insane and the way they manipulate sound live is unlike anything I’ve seen.
Set to Watch: Boiler Room
Black Coffee
Black Coffee is a South African house music DJ who began his career in the 90s. He’s known as one of the biggest DJs in Africa. I’m still becoming familiar with his music and I was supposed to see him at Coachella so definitely still on my list to see.
Watched a set of his and his music definitely takes you on a journey. You can definitely hear an African influence in his music: long buildups to energizing drops. He also has worked with David Guetta, Usher, John Legend, and even Drake.
Set to Watch: Tomorrowland Belgium
BLM Resources
- sign – https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#petitions
- donate – https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#donate
- educate – https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/#educate
- T’s Action Entourage Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/tenacioustweets/
- T’s Action Entourage Spreadsheet – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rCieiRfwSYxmY8pGr7bqwWmnWks3cWP04qVp7_NMNnQ/edit?usp=sharing
- Black EDM Artists Playlist – https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5wynrZmdUJ8o1DXb7WEKFg?si=YbPBmq_2Ryab4O2CHX1rfA
