Aluna on Dance Music's Black Origins

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. KEXP is a listener-funded nonprofit, and we need your help to keep creating podcasts like this one. Donate now for our Fall Fundraising Drive!Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/sound/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.