#13

#13

Ghettophiles isn’t your usual hyped up record label. Run mainly by Matt Frederick, the label has only been around for ‘little over a year’ and was mainly started to put out chicago juke since no one else was. I asked Matt a couple of questions about Ghettophiles. You should also download the new Phil Good EP because I told you too.

How exactly did the label come about? It’s fairly new label isn’t it?

The label came out a little over a year ago. Basically, my friend Neema decided he wanted to start a label focused on the Chicago juke/footwork scene. He was friends with a bunch of the guys already (there's a picture of the Geto DJ'z with him slinking in the back as "DJ Neemah"). All that being said, the first actual Ghettophiles release was a DJ Tameil album... which is bmore and not juke. Go figure.

What made you like this kind of music so much?

I am not from Chicago originally, so juke was pretty unknown to me for a long time. I had heard a few tracks before meeting Neema and not being impressed... then one day we took a road trip and listened to juke for like 3 hours straight. What finally hooked me was DJ Rashad's "Flashing Lights" remix. Of course, what totally hooked me into footwork was actually going to see footwork battles for the first time. It's just raw energy, and as much as I admire Planet Mu for doing the juke/footwork tour, there is still no comparison to actually being at a footwork event.

Juke and footwork has obviously been about for a long time in Chicago, why do you think it has gotten so much attention over the past year or so?

It's just like with house music... house was around for like a decade before France figured out it was good, then the rest of the world decided it was cool. Juke has been around here for awhile, France figured it out, then the UK, and so-on. It's just one of those things that was bound to happen eventually.

What do you think of the new British juke inspired stuff? I’ve found it to be hit or miss.

Chicago juke stuff is also hit-or-miss. Juke is addictive and really fun to make, and I really appreciate people who like to experiment with it. Footwork music, on the other hand, is way more utilitarian. You can't really play around with the formula or else it just doesn't work. We're actually putting out a free e.p. from this dude Melvin who is out of the UK. It's ridiculously good, and I hope to see more people attempt to hit that level of polish.

Is there any rivalry between the artists/DJs? Some of them seem hella aggro.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. Yep.

There does seems to a real community vibe within the actual footworking dancing itself, why is this?

Everybody teaches everybody else how to footwork. All the footwork DJ's are/were footwork dancers themselves. It just makes sense, though. What's the fun of footworking if you're the only one who knows how to do it?

What are some of your favourite juke/ghettotech/footwork records and why?

I wish I had favorite records... but there are sooooo many good ones. Or I can just say "4 The Ghetto" by Spinn and Rashad. Out now on Ghettophiles, available everywhere that sells music!

To end it up, who do you think would win in a fight; Dance Mania or Subterranean Playhouse? Night Slugs.

Posted at 21:24, 17th August 2011