Every NYC Pride weekend has its anthem: that one song you can’t get away from, whether you’re marching in the parade, bar-hopping in Hell’s Kitchen, or clubbing until dawn. And this year’s jam that waved the rainbow flag and had everyone unleash their move was, of course, Beyoncé’s. “Break my soul.”
The vibe-raising first single from Bey’s upcoming seventh studio album, “Renaissance” (out July 29), is a foundation-shaking movement that is giving house music, long the sound of the underground, a home in the mainstream. And just days before “Break My Soul” broke the internet, Drake released “Honestly, it doesn’t matter” an album that finds the “Shape 2 Sexy” superstar spinning from hip-hop to house with the authentic dance of South African beatmaster Black Coffee.
In the flash of a disco ball, two of music’s heaviest hitters doubly declared that this was the summer of house. And as the long-time head of the house, I’m here for that.
The euphoric energy and cathartic release, both energetic and spiritual, of house music is exactly what a world of broken souls needs right now. After spending most of the last two years glued to dancing in our own homes, or New York City one-bedroom apartments, it’s time to do like Technotronic and inflate the jam one more time.
And while some haters have been dragging Beyoncé and Drake for showing off their love of house, like they’re infiltrating a secret club that not even A-listers like them can get into, it’s the ultimate co-signer for a genre. which, much like the nightclub before it, has been kicked into the basement over the years.
Bey and Drizzy, who you can be sure are music fans and students as much as they are bankable hit makers, are tapping into house’s black roots. They are representing a culture that, also because of its history in the gay community, has been largely marginalized.
But as much as Beyoncé and Drake are injecting new life into house music, they aren’t the first to take the genre for a crossover spin. In the early ’90s, CeCe Peniston, Crystal Waters, and Robin. S. all scored in the top 10 singles with “Finally,” “Gypsy Woman” and “Show me love,” respectively. In fact, it’s Robin S.’s 1993 hit that Beyoncé samples on “Break My Soul.”
In case you thought Drake invented the whole concept of rappers throwing themselves into house music, there was the whole hip-house movement in the early ’90s, made memorable by everyone at C&C Music Factory with “I’m going to make you sweat (everybody dance now)” break! with “The Power” until matching Queen Latifah with “Come into my house.”
And let’s not forget Madonna, who made a house pose and brought the ballroom scene to the masses with “Vogue,” her 1990 No. Knuckles and david morales to connect them with a more modern and highly influential audience in the clubs.
Carey was even known to go back into the studio to re-cut her vocals for her house remixes. That’s what music meant to her and the power of it throbbing from her.
Hopefully, house music legends like Ten City, Inner City and Ultra Naté, celebrating the 25th anniversary of his classic “Free” this year, he’ll be feeling a little more love and being discovered by new fans thanks to Beyoncé and Drake. Now that would warm my soul.
‘ celebrity.land ‘
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