Image via Complex Original
Detroit is often portrayed as a post-apocalyptic city with one foot tangled in its industrial past and the other feeling through its own bleak present for a sustainable future. Amid this austere environment is a hardscrabble, patchwork community of artists, musicians, and radicals who continue to make awesome music because, well, there’s not always that much else to do.
Like Memphis, Detroit may be known, unfortunately, more for its socioeconomic struggles than its profound artistic output, but the city has a similarly impressive track record when it comes to American music history. The northernmost capital of blues, Motor City is also a major hub for gospel, jazz, and classic rock. Then there’s soul. Detroit is home to Motown Records and legends like Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Anita Baker, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, and the Supremes. Suffice it to say that soul music, and consequently modern popular music, would not be the same without Detroit.
Look a couple decades later, and Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May are humbly creating an entirely new genre of electronic music: Detroit Techno. Electronic music fans continue to revere Detroit Techno and the musicians who made it decades after they revolutionized the art form. Today, people like techno godfather Carl Craig and relative newcomer Kyle Hall continue to do the genre justice. Beyond techno, Detroit’s also home to hip-hop, house, post-punk, one of the country’s best music festivals, and some seriously credit-worthy establishments. So let’s cut the fluff and get on with it. Here is what’s happening in the Detroit music scene today.
Danny Brown
How else could we begin our introduction to what’s really going down in the Detroit music scene than with the incomparable Danny Brown? Danny was born and raised in Detroit and was exposed early on to house, soul, and hip-hop by his pops. In a music scene that birthed Slum Village and Dilla, it helps to know your history. No entry-level fluke, Danny Brown came on to the Detroit hip-hop scene in 2003 with the now-defunct crew Rese’vor Dogs. After cutting his teeth (no pun intended, we swear) for a good seven years, our dude landed on the national hip-hop heat map in 2010 with The Hybrid. If you’re not convinced Danny Brown reps Detroit hard, watch the Made in America doc above one more time.
Carl Craig
If Danny Brown grew up inspired by house artists, Carl Craig most likely had something to do with it. One of the most important figures in Detroit’s electronic music history, and a member of what came to be known as the second generation of Detroit techno artists, Craig was mentored by the originators—the Belleville Three. He quickly distinguished himself by utilizing divergent influences from jazz and soul music. Not only has Craig created an intimidating amount of original work and remixes for international artists, he is also dedicated to seeing music thrive in his hometown. Co-founder and creative director of Movement Electronic Music Festival, Craig is ensuring that this vibrant scene is shared with both the local and larger audiences. Which brings us to…
Movement Electronic Music Festival
Since 2000, the Movement Electronic Music Festival has transformed downtown Detroit into a public display of the electronic music Mecca that it is, showcasing local and international artists for a long weekend each Memorial Day weekend. While the event has changed names a number of times, the mission (and quality) has remained impressively consistent. Some locals may argue that great music is happening in Detroit more often than just one festival-designated weekend per year, but we still think Movement is doing Detroit electronic music proud.
Kyle Hall
One of the many artists known to make an appearance at Movement is Kyle Hall. Often considered the MVP of today’s Detroit dance music scene, he has—without objection—lived up to the hype. While still a teenager, Hall released some super-exciting singles, collabs, remixes, and even started his own record label called Wild Oats. And just last fall, Hall put out his impressive full-length debut, The Boat Party. If anyone is still in doubt, play them that record.
People’s Records
Kyle Hall might represent new school Detroit, but People’s Records (4100 Woodward Ave.) reps old school Detroit all the way. This local institution specializes in jazz, R&B, and soul vinyl—especially those recorded by local artists. You won’t find the hottest new Billboard Top 100 releases here because Brad Hales and his crew only sell an expertly curated selection of used records, many of them highly sought-after 45s. In other words, People’s Records is a crate digger’s heaven. Full stop.
Omar-S
There’s an undeniable anti-establishment pathos in the Detroit music scene—given the hellishly tumultuous nature of the local establishment, can you really blame them? An artist who’s always been given to the revolutionary (and DIY) persuasion is Alexander Omar Smith, a.k.a. Omar-S. Straddling both techno and house genres, Omar-S is nothing if not uncompromisingly his own creative force. With his own label, FXHE, he’s released his own prolific discography as well as tracks by early upstarts like Kyle Hall. Omar-S is one of the fundamental Detroit artists you should know if you don’t already.
TV Lounge
Only in a city like Detroit can you find a venue that still regularly hosts titans both before and after they’ve come up. That venue is TV Lounge (2548 Grand River Ave.). Techno, house, and hip-hop reign incontestably over the turntables and dance floor, as cheap drinks, an outside stage, and a strong sense of community set the mood. Home to countless Movement Festival after parties, TV Lounge may not be the plushest location to catch dance music in the city, but it’s the most authentic by far, and is more often than not frequented by iconic Detroit musicians and DJs.
Protomartyr
Detroit’s not all techno, though, and its rock history is not all in past tense either. Case in point, Protomartyr. Their sound falls somewhere between post-punk, blue collar classic rock, and snarly art rock. The band's sophomore record, Under Color of Official Right, is a taught, pummeling, and somehow reflectively hilarious album that sounds less like Detroit rock forebears the Stooges and more like Interpol or the Hold Steady if they came up in a decaying post-industrial wasteland—and were angry as hell about it.
ADULT.
A Detroit band that sits exquisitely between the punk grit of Protomartyr and their techno predecessors like Omar-S or Theo Parrish is the electro duo of Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus, otherwise known as ADULT. Coming from an art degree background, the husband-and-wife duo utilize analog synths and drum machines, and in doing so, do our trio techno demigods from Belleville proud. While they have their own label, Ersatz Audio, ADULT. are just as likely to associate with Thrill Jockey, as they did on their last release, The Way Things Fall. So if your Detroit electro pangs aren’t satiated by Matthew Dear, then ADULT. is your best bet.
Vintage King Audio
Every vibrant music scene needs its audio gear nerds and distributors. They’re the reason artists have the tools they need to create their art—especially when Craigslist and eBay come up short on quality listings. For the past 20 years in Detroit, that shop has been Vintage King Audio (1603 E. Nine Mile). Located in Ferndale, and now with outposts in Nashville and L.A., Vintage King is owned and operated by brothers Mike and Andrew Nehra. Over the years they’ve expanded to selling new gear as well, with a continued emphasis on a highly curated line of equipment. So far their clientele has included Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Jay Z, as well as Electric Lady Studios, Dave Matthews Band’s mobile studio, and the Nehra brothers' own White Room Studios in downtown Detroit. Hey, perks of the job, right?