Chicago crew Teklife formed in 2011, and they’ve thrived as an electronic dance collective, fashion brand, and record label with footwork as the group’s impenetrable core. Founders DJ Rashad (aka Rashad Harden, who died in 2014) and DJ Spinn (aka Morris Harper) met as teens in the mid-90s and bonded over the DJ mixes they’d hear on the radio and at local parties and roller rinks; they quickly recruited scene veteran and party-circuit mainstay DJ Gant-Man into their budding collective. At that time, a fast, gritty form of house was evolving into ghetto house—a subgenre whose sample-based tracks used raunchy lyrics, loads of repetition, and tempos pushing north of 140 bpm—and in turn it spawned footwork and juke. As these new sounds grew in popularity, competitive dancers would gather to battle one another to the music.
From early on, Teklife understood a crucial party rule: every event needs a DJ, dancers, and banging tunes. For decades now, the crew’s members have been providing those necessary elements in a quintessentially Chicago way—many of them got their start even before Teklife. In the late 90s, I lived on the south side, where footworking was an inescapable part of growing up. My cousins and I went to the Rink on 87th Street quite a bit as teenagers, where we’d dance our hearts out and leave with our clothes drenched in sweat. Fast-forward to March 2024, when I randomly ended up at an afterparty in Missouri and to my surprise discovered that Teklife legend RP Boo was performing. Though I’m much older now, I still got out on the floor. The vibes hit as hard as ever, and I couldn’t have been prouder to be from Chicago that night. The hometown heroes of Teklife have brought together RP Boo, DJ Spinn, Heavee, footwork dance collective the Era, and DJ Jalen at the Empty Bottle for a night that’s sure to make for a steamy, cathartic, and therapeutic way to juke away the end of 2024.
Teklife This showcase by Chicago crew Teklife features performances by RP Boo, DJ Spinn, Heavee, footwork collective the Era, and DJ Jalen. Fri 12/17, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $10, 21+