Aluna on Dance Music's Black Origins

Sound & Vision
Hosted by Emily Fox

Aluna Francis started her career as one half of the electronic duo AlunaGeorge. But as a Black artist in dance music, Aluna always felt like an outsider.


 
Subscribe Here:

Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts Overcast Podcasts  Pocket Casts  Stitcher  Spotify

photo by Jeremy Paul Bali

Aluna Francis started her career as one half of the electronic duo AlunaGeorge. But as a Black artist in dance music, Aluna always felt like an outsider. For her first solo record, Renaissance, she wanted to create a record for Black folks and bring dance music to its roots. After all, techno was formed in the early 80s by Black artists in Detroit and House was created by Black DJs in Chicago around the same time. By the time electronic dance music was mainstream, however, the genre's origins were unknown to many.

“I had approached this idea as a visitor, as a guest to dance music, as someone trying to break into a world that was not mine and when I found out about the Black history of dance music I was, well, slightly enraged,” Aluna says.

  • Read Aluna's open letter on racial inequities in dance music.

More From Sound & Vision

KEXP’s Morgan Chosnyk talks us through this year’s Trans Musicales festival in France and shares five of her favorite live sessions KEXP captured while at the …

The Eurosonic Festival features emerging artists from Europe. DJ Kevin Cole talks about some of his favorite performances. Subscribe Here:   &n…

KEXP’s Meerah Powell has the story on musicians from smaller record labels who are pushing to get back their masters. Subscribe Here:    &…