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This Beat Is the Real Heart of D.C.

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Manage episode 497271755 series 3354098
Content provided by AFAR Media. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by AFAR Media or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Welcome to Unpacked, America 250, a mini series celebrating the music, art, food, and more that makes America, America—in honor of our nation's upcoming 250th anniversary. The mini series is part of Afar's "⁠52 Places to Travel in the U.S. This Year"⁠ package, and in this second episode, host Aislyn Greene takes us to Washington, D.C. to explore go-go music—the uniquely American sound that's been moving communities for fifty years.

From Chuck Brown's groundbreaking fusion of funk, hip-hop, and Latin rhythms in the 1970s to today's global collaborations, this episode shares how a local D.C. music scene survived criminalization, gentrification, and decades of attacks to become the official music of the nation's capital.

On this episode you'll learn:

  • How Chuck Brown created Go-Go by blending funk, hip-hop, and Latin rhythms into something entirely new
  • Why Go-Go is "one of the only Black popular music forms that have not been colonized"
  • The role of D.C.'s "Chocolate City" era and summer job programs in nurturing neighborhood bands
  • How the 1987 curfew laws criminalized Go-Go and forced an entire generation underground
  • What the "Don't Mute DC" movement achieved and how it changed everything

Featured Guest: Dr. Natalie Hopkinson, chief curator of the Go-Go Museum and Café, associate professor at American University, and author of multiple books on go-go culture

Songs featured in this episode

Chuck Brown: "Bustin' Loose"

Parliament: "Chocolate City"
Nelly: "Hot In Herre"

Black Alley: "Noochie’s Live From The Front Porch"

Michelle Blackwell: "Enjoy Myself"

CCB: "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

Chuck Brown: "Chuck Baby"

Musicians featured in this episode

Chuck Brown

Black Alley

Michelle Blackwell

The Experience Band & Show

Rare Essence

Backyard Band

CCB (Critical Condition Band)

Pock3t

Or kick things off with this go-go playlist. And read the transcript.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

116 episodes

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This Beat Is the Real Heart of D.C.

Unpacked by Afar

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Manage episode 497271755 series 3354098
Content provided by AFAR Media. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by AFAR Media or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

Welcome to Unpacked, America 250, a mini series celebrating the music, art, food, and more that makes America, America—in honor of our nation's upcoming 250th anniversary. The mini series is part of Afar's "⁠52 Places to Travel in the U.S. This Year"⁠ package, and in this second episode, host Aislyn Greene takes us to Washington, D.C. to explore go-go music—the uniquely American sound that's been moving communities for fifty years.

From Chuck Brown's groundbreaking fusion of funk, hip-hop, and Latin rhythms in the 1970s to today's global collaborations, this episode shares how a local D.C. music scene survived criminalization, gentrification, and decades of attacks to become the official music of the nation's capital.

On this episode you'll learn:

  • How Chuck Brown created Go-Go by blending funk, hip-hop, and Latin rhythms into something entirely new
  • Why Go-Go is "one of the only Black popular music forms that have not been colonized"
  • The role of D.C.'s "Chocolate City" era and summer job programs in nurturing neighborhood bands
  • How the 1987 curfew laws criminalized Go-Go and forced an entire generation underground
  • What the "Don't Mute DC" movement achieved and how it changed everything

Featured Guest: Dr. Natalie Hopkinson, chief curator of the Go-Go Museum and Café, associate professor at American University, and author of multiple books on go-go culture

Songs featured in this episode

Chuck Brown: "Bustin' Loose"

Parliament: "Chocolate City"
Nelly: "Hot In Herre"

Black Alley: "Noochie’s Live From The Front Porch"

Michelle Blackwell: "Enjoy Myself"

CCB: "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

Chuck Brown: "Chuck Baby"

Musicians featured in this episode

Chuck Brown

Black Alley

Michelle Blackwell

The Experience Band & Show

Rare Essence

Backyard Band

CCB (Critical Condition Band)

Pock3t

Or kick things off with this go-go playlist. And read the transcript.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  continue reading

116 episodes

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