Growing up in Chicago’s south side in the late 60’s and 70’s, Deeon experienced an era of profound change in America’s cultural and racial landscape which later became the subject-matter for his extensive musical portfolio. At a time when electronic music was new and starting to define itself, he was a pioneer in developing a sound that corresponded to the time and life of the people around him and the surrounding neighborhoods of Chicago’s downtrodden; those in dire need of profound change and liberation. His personal story and musical work is now indistinguishable from that rich tapestry that is America’s contemporary cultural history. 

Deeon started small producing gritty XXX club tracks with call and response chants which Deeon describes as "for the strippers, for the street”. These original masterpieces were created with a 606, 808, and 909 sampler where he made minimal ghetto beat tracks and played them off cassette. This is what provided the spark for Chicago House and Detroit Techno. Soon now-household name DJs and producers would start picking up on this sound, and remixing it and playing it in clubs, radio stations all over the world. It would be defined as “Ghetto House”. 

“it’s just fun music. It’s kind of like a getaway from the reality of life to music. Get freaky with a stranger music. Girls kissin’ girls music. Stress relief music” he would say in an interview for 5Magazine in 2013 regarding his sound. “The best thing [about Ghetto House] is there is almost always a packed dance floor! It moves the crowd. Ain’t that what we came here for?”

In 2002, Deeon’s started his on-going battle with his health problems. Diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma, diabetes and a severe accident which resulted in having his left foot amputated, he has overcome adversity using his sound as a beacon of hope in his own life, to not lose the spark and to keep going strong. 

With a career of collaborations that reads like the who’s who of the history of dance music, remixes done by and for him that have delighted crowds all over the globe and a portfolio stronger than most of the artists in the industry, he’s now getting ready to launch a new stage in his career.

Chicago house music legend Mike Dunn, has been DJing and producing music for over twenty years. Hailing from Englewood, Chicago, Mike started out DJing at the local block parties that took place playing disco, funk, soul and prototype Chicago house tracks.
“I was one of the first cats bringing two reel-to-reels and spinning with them at the parties. I was bringing out two Pioneer 707s, doing the Hummingbird, Jacks, The Courtyard, etc. I’d bring a drum machine, too. I would make tracks right then as the party was going. Way before my guys Daft Punk and all of them were doing live gigs, I was doing that at the basement parties – just bringing drum machines and doing everything live. A lot of my early tracks came from me doing them at the party when the party was going on. I’d save it in memory and bring it home and polish it up. But I listen to it now and it’s like, damn… didn’t use enough cleaner!”
Word soon spread about his talents and Mike was booked for various clubs in and around Chicago, DJ’ing with house music innovators such as Ron Hardy, Larry Heard and good friend Armando Gallop. It wasn’t long before Mike got the production bug, resulting in his first release in 1987, “Dance You Mutha” on Westbrook Records, he also started to produce and engineer for other Chicago artists, such as Armando, Fast Eddie and K-Alexi Shelby.
More house and techno productions followed in the late 80s with Mike’s distinctive vocal delivery and trademark hip-house, acid, production style, to create tracks such as ‘Let It Be House’, ‘Magic Feet’ and “Face the Nation”, some times under the name Mike Dunn but also under aliases such as MD Connection, MDIII and QX-1.
He continued to produce and release throughout the 1990s, with releases on labels such as Nervous, Nitestuff and Tribal America, whilst also working with other producers and vocalists such as Syleena Johnson, Byron Stingley, Mina Jackson, Kool Rock Steady and Kym English to name a few.
More recently tracks like Phreaky MF’ on French label Robsoul and ‘God Made Me Phunky’, re-released on Defected records, have raised his profile and delivered his music to new audiences. Whilst new interest in Mike’s original old school jamz have taken him to work with the new generation of house and techno producers and labels, demonstrated on tracks such as ‘It’s the Music’ produced by Murphy Jaxx and more recently ‘Touch the Sky’ produced by Alden Tyrell and released on Clone’s Jack for Daze imprint.
After a long absence from DJing in Europe, Mike returned last year, playing at clubs such as Panorama Bar, Fabric, Concrete and Sub Club, and festivals such as Glastonbury, Electric Forrest and numerous others across Europe and US, demonstrating why the Chicago OG is still very much in demand.
2017 see’s Mike Dunn celebrating 30 years of Acid & Chicago house since his debut release back in 87’ with ‘Dance You Mutha’. To celebrate Mike’s releasing a single and album on moreaboutmusic and a full ’30 Years of house’ tour. 2017 will also see the launch of his own label Blackball Muzik…
The Phreaky MF is back…

Management: mark@moreaboutmusic.com

Bookings:

Cue the bass…Deep in the heart of the ghetto, on the mean streets of Chicago’s infamous Southside, a music pioneer was born…
From the beginning, Thomas “DJ Slugo” Kendricks was influenced by his cousin, DJ Geno, a member of a local Chicago hot mix group, and other local icons such as the Hot Mix 5 (of Chicago radio). Slugo, with 20+ years in the game, over 20 albums in his pocket and over 50 CDs on the street, began a journey that lead him to become one of the original creators of a style of music commonly known as Ghetto House, more recently regarded as Juke.
Ghetto House, an urban dance sound created by inner-city producers from raw walks of life and derived from Old School House, is steeped with nuances from ghetto-life traditions and descriptions of the hood through rhythm. It moves beyond the just being and dives right into the metaphysical, with its rhythmic, infectious energy exciting the inner spirit and making folk return to their Motherland dance roots.
The magic struck Slugo at a high school dance where he asked the DJ if he could spin a couple of tracks. Although his set only lasted a brief 15 minutes, it ignited a flame that burns brighter than ever today.
From 1984-1987, Slugo honed his skills by observing the skills of his local heroes. Participating in heated DJ battles won him acclaim as a technical expert on the wheels of steel. He released his first truly professional mix tape Ghetto Mix Part III (1992). This tape landed in the hands of Ray Barney, CEO of the Chicago-based Dance Mania, one of the largest dance music labels in the world. Barney and Slugo formalized an agreement resulting in a long stream of releases on the Dance Mania label and affording Slugo the freedom to form his own label, Subterranean Playhouse.
During this same period, friend and fellow producer Paul Johnson introduced Slugo to a southern promoter, which culminated his professional merge into the rave scene. His unheard of Ghetto style of mixing quickly made him a favorite to tens of thousands of partygoers and promoters alike.
The release of the popular Cardboard Booty mix CD, called “the most influential ghetto house CD ever made” by London’s Underbeat Magazine, who also went on to call DJ Slugo, “the Ghetto-father of the American dance floor.” As his fame spread, releases with other national labels, such as Underground Construction, Dance Mania, GTI Records, Serotonin Records, Data Bass, CWAL Mob Recordings, Wide Records and Crosstalk International, Inc., as well as his follow up album, The Ghetto Don, flew off the shelves.
Taking his career to the next level, Slugo signed with the 1 electronic music booking agency in the United States, Teknomafia. With Teknomafia’s 10-year strong foothold on the nationwide rave, club & concert market as well as national distribution for his future releases, the only question that remained was where to begin. Slugo later said that this proved to be one of the best decisions made for his career. After Teknomafia shut their doors and in order to progress into mainstream music, DJ Slugo was the only electronic artist kept on the roster.
2002 saw Slugo returning to his roots with new projects, Where the Rats and Godzilla. Slugo calls these releases without a doubt, some of his best work. They have also without a doubt, exceeded the sales of nearly every other release he has done to this date and which lead to his wildly successful “Godzilla” track becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
After a yearlong respite to rethink his career path, Slugo is back in the game and taking the world by storm. Recent affiliations with England’s Wide Adventure and Crosstalk International, Inc. promise many great things to come.
“Imma keep making Ghetto House music because I love it!”
The saga continues…

For Bookings:

Email: bookdjslugo@gmail.com

A “D.J.”… is deeper than cocked headphones and head nods. Deeper than the Vinyl, CD’s, MP3’s and the visual splendor of Serato turntable images rotating in synchronization on the laptop screen. He/She has a passion so deep it’s difficult thinking about anything else. Music is heard on a higher plane than the average listener and can intoxicate as much as 100 proof liquor. Breaks are the moment of truth and the screams of party goers can be orgasmic. “That’s my song… Go DJ”!!!!!!! 

A “D.J.” is a technician. A manipulator of sound and emotion using blends, slams and scratches to smoothly transition from one song to the next making melodies that arouse the senses. DJ Remixes make even the best song BETTER! Perfect timing and song selection are but a few of the weapons in the DJ arsenal.  Reading the room and connecting to the listeners can enable the selector to chose the song that can change the mood of a thousand people at once.

Whether a "bedroom DJ", “A Bar Star DJ” or “internationally known” the passion is no different. Music is my first love and it will be my last! 
And you thought all we did was play records…

Bang The Drum Party was established in 2009 by DJ/Producer Jihad Muhammad in Newark, NJ. Bang The Drum (BTD) has hosted some of the best DJ's and Artists in the Underground Dance Scene. The purpose of the party is to promote the Global Soul Movement. Jihad defines Global soul as " Soulful music...House, Funk, Disco, Afrobeat... any music that touches the soul of all people....of all races. That to me makes it Global ". 

You can catch Jihad live every Saturday on his Bang The Drum Sessions show on Twitch.tv/jihadmu from 6-9pm (est). Join the chat and interact with the House community and we spread love through music.

Grammy Award Winner, Producer, Remixer, DJ

user769558247 is following