While you’ve almost certainly heard its four-to-the-floor grooves and driving synths countless times, you might be less familiar with the genre’s unique history, innovators, and subgenres. In this article, let’s dive into the full story of house music, its key characteristics, and influential artists, and take a look at how you can experiment with its sounds yourself if you’re interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
See the table of contents below to navigate to a specific section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feeling ready? Let’s dive in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that’s characterized by sonic elements like four-on-the-floor beats, drum machines, and synthesizers. It’s a direct descendant of disco, birthed by the innovative DJs and producers from Chicago’s underground club scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it’s still continuing to evolve to this very day, house music has a rich history that’s deeply rooted in the cultural and musical landscapes of the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
House music first emerged from Chicago’s underground club culture in the early ’80s, with Robert Williams and his partners coming across a nondescript brick building with blacked-out windows in the industrial part of downtown. At the time, police shutdowns had caused a number of venues to close (including his own US Studio), so Williams took the abandoned factory at 206 Jefferson Street and started hosting parties at it\u2014christening the venue as ‘the Warehouse.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former factory quickly came to life at nighttime, with predominantly gay Black and Latino crowds coming together to dance in an otherwise heavily segregated club scene. Alongside other innovators like Ron Hardy, the Warehouse’s first musical director and resident DJ Frankie Knuckles started experimenting with new sounds at the venue by mixing disco and soul tracks with electronic beats\u2014giving birth to what we now know as house music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a more in-depth look at the Warehouse and Frankie Knuckles’ enduring legacy, see our article below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n