The Teachers and Students Carrying Detroit's Sound Forward | Living for the City Ep. 8

The Teachers and Students Carrying Detroit's Sound Forward | Living for the City Ep. 8

Detroit has never been a city that lives in its past. Its greatest tradition has always been inventing the future. In the season finale of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib looks beyond Detroit's musical legacy to the people who will define its next chapter. At the Detroit School of Arts, teacher Maritza turned a hallway conversation with Waajeed and Cornelius Harris into a techno program where students are learning not just the history of Detroit music, but how to shape its future. Some had never heard of Detroit techno before. Now they're creating original tracks on Roland machines and preparing to perform during Movement weekend. Kevin Saunderson reflects on what it means to watch a new generation inherit the sound he helped create and why every generation has a responsibility to leave the door open for the next one. StanWill, one of Detroit's rising voices, shares how he's building a career on his own terms, making music relentlessly, cultivating community online, and refusing to wait for permission. Throughout the season, Hanif has asked what makes a music city. Here, he arrives at his answer. It's not just the records, the venues, or even the artists. It's a culture that believes knowledge should be shared, opportunities should be created, and every generation deserves the chance to surprise the one before it. What moved Hanif most wasn't simply the music these students were making. It was the faith their teachers and mentors had placed in them – the belief that the future isn't something to protect from young people, but something to build with them. This one is about hope. About handing over the tools. And about believing the next great Detroit sound hasn't been heard yet. CHAPTERS 00:00 - The Future Detroit Is Already Making 02:00 - Detroit School of Arts: Where Techno Gets Passed Down 06:48 - The Lineage: Gospel, Motown, Techno, and What Comes Next 09:43 - Brian McCollum on Independent Artists in the Digital Age 11:01 - Stanwill: Building Worlds and Kicking Down Doors 21:00 - Kevin Saunderson: One of the Original Architects Looks Ahead 25:00 - Complete Faith in the Process LINKS YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod [https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod] Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5]Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267] Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/ [https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/] TAGS / KEYWORDS Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit School of Arts, Detroit techno future, Kevin Saunderson, Belleville Three, Stanwill Detroit, Nasan Detroit, Brian McCollum, Waajeed, Detroit techno education, Detroit hip hop future, Movement Festival Detroit, Roland Detroit, Detroit young artists, Detroit music next generation, techno education, Detroit independent artists, TikTok music, Detroit music 2026, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2026 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

How Detroit's Crate Diggers Kept the City's Music Alive | Living for the City Ep. 7

In Detroit, records were never just records. They were history, community, memory, and proof that you cared enough to go looking. In Episode 7 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib explores Detroit's enduring vinyl culture and the people who have dedicated their lives to preserving music one record at a time. This is a story about collectors, DJs, store owners, and believers — people who see a record not as a product, but as a relationship. Ben Blackwell walks through the Third Man pressing plant in the Cass Corridor and explains why DIY was never a trend in Detroit. It was a necessity. Andrey Douthard reflects on building Paramita Sound in the aftermath of losing J Dilla and Proof, and how records became a way to process grief, build community, and connect generations through music. Mary Cobra arrives with an armful of 45s and traces the Detroit Cobras' history back to a simple reality: if no one else was going to preserve the music they loved, they would do it themselves. House Shoes made the decision to pull his catalog from streaming. If you want the music, you have to seek it out. DJ Minx still prefers vinyl because collecting records and truly knowing how to play them are two different things. Together, they make a case for something increasingly rare: intention. Beneath every story is a larger question about what gets lost when music becomes frictionless. In Detroit, records remain a way of slowing down, paying attention, and honoring the people who came before. This one is about preservation, intention, and a city that still believes discovery should take work. CHAPTERS 00:31 - The First Record You Buy With Your Own Money 02:05 - Third Man Records and the DIY Philosophy of Vinyl 05:54 - Paramita Sound: Records as a Vehicle for Grief and Community 11:27 - Gatekeeping as Quality Control 14:05 - Mary Cobra and the 45 18:09 - House Shoes Pulled His Catalog. DJ Minx Won't Give Up the Needle. 21:44 - Digging for Records Is Relational LINKS YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod [https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod] Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5] Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267] Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/ [https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/] TAGS / KEYWORDS Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit vinyl culture, crate digging Detroit, record stores Detroit, Third Man Records Detroit, Third Man Pressing, Ben Blackwell, Jack White, Paramita Sound, Andre Duhart, House Shoes, DJ Minx, Mary Cobra, Detroit Cobras, vinyl renaissance, record collecting, Detroit techno vinyl, Detroit hip hop, crate digging, vinyl vs streaming, physical music, record pressing, Archer Records Detroit, Detroit DIY music, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2025 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The Artists Who Left Detroit and the Pull That Brought Them Home | Living for the City Ep. 6

Every artist Detroit has ever made has had to decide at some point whether to stay or go. The ones who left never fully left. In Episode 6 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib follows the migration patterns of Detroit's musicians — where they went, why they left, and what brought some of them back. Berry Gordy IV, son of the Motown founder, speaks from Los Angeles about what it meant when Motown moved west and what that departure did to the city it left behind. House Shoes, the DJ who spent a decade as the keeper of Detroit hip hop culture, opens up about leaving after losing Dilla and Proof in the same year and why Detroit felt like a coffin he had to grieve somewhere else. Waajeed spent nine years in New York trying to make an ambitious plan come to life before coming back to a Detroit that had changed, but still needed him. And Ben Blackwell, who moved to Nashville to help build Third Man Records with Jack White, talks about the karmic weight of leaving a city that shaped everything he became. Not everyone left. Some stayed because they couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Some came back because the stamp Detroit left on them was stronger than the distance. Hanif traces all of this through the lens of the Great Migration — what it costs to leave a place, and what it costs to stay. This one is about the pull of home, and everyone who has ever felt it. CHAPTERS 00:30 - The Episode Detroit Couldn't Contain 01:37 - The Great Migration and What It Costs to Leave 02:00 - Berry Gordy IV: Growing Up at Motown and the Move to LA 09:16 - House Shoes: Detroit Felt Like a Coffin 10:36 - Waajeed: Nine Years Away and Why He Came Back 16:47 - Ben Blackwell, Jack White, and the Nashville Decision 21:44 - Detroit's Stamp Never Fades LINKS YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267 Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/ TAGS / KEYWORDS Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit musicians, leaving Detroit, Berry Gordy, Motown history, Motown Los Angeles, House Shoes, Waajeed, Ben Blackwell, Third Man Records, Jack White, Nashville, J Dilla, Proof D12, Nasan, Detroit hip hop, Detroit Great Migration, Detroit migration, Detroit vs everybody, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin, Eminem, Detroit music scene, Detroit culture, Detroit identity, music and place, artists and home, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2025 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

How Detroit Keeps Its Greatest Music Legacies Alive | Living for the City Ep. 5

Every great Detroit artist had someone who believed in them before they believed in themselves. In Episode 5 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib traces the mentorship chains that run underneath Detroit's music history like a second infrastructure. Guilty Simpson, the last artist J Dilla was working with before he passed, reflects on what it means to carry that gift forward and why Dilla's music still feels so urgently alive. Nasaan, Proof's son, opens up about spending years running from his father's name before realizing the legacy he'd inherited wasn't just weight, it was a support system built by people who still love him. Waajeed opens the Underground Music Academy and reflects on the moment he realized he'd become the OG he once needed. And DJ Minx tells the story of Moodymann showing up at a party, watching her DJ, and telling her she was starting a label in two weeks whether she felt ready or not. Hanif opens with a 1997 video from the Palladium Club where Eminem, D12, Dilla, and Slum Village all share the same stage on the same night, and asks what it means that this kind of overlap wasn't rare. It was just a Tuesday in Detroit. In 2006, the world lost Dilla in February and Proof two months later. Together, their stories reveal that Detroit doesn't just produce great artists. It produces great mentors. People who drive across the city to show you how to use their machine, who tell you you're ready before you feel it, who stay when they could have left because someone has to hold the door. This one is about the people who keep the torch burning and make sure there’s always someone there to carry it next. CHAPTERS 00:00 - The 1997 Palladium Video: Detroit Hip Hop's Interconnected DNA 02:51 - Each One Teaches One: The Detroit Mentorship Ecosystem 05:31 - Moodymann, Amp Fiddler, and the Gift That Doesn't Wait 11:13 - 2006: Detroit Lost Dilla and Proof Two Months Apart 12:44 - Guilty Simpson and the Aliveness of Dilla's Music 14:33 - Nasaan: Carrying Proof's Name Without Losing Your Own 20:31 - Underground Music Academy and Passing It Forward LINKS YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267 Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/ TAGS / KEYWORDS Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit hip hop, J Dilla, Proof D12, Eminem, Slum Village, Guilty Simpson, Nasan, Waajeed, Underground Music Academy, DJ Minx, Moodymann, Amp Fiddler, House Shoes, Nick Speed, Sterling Toles, Bill Blackwell, Bob Seger, Isaiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, Detroit mentorship, passing the torch, Detroit legacy, Detroit rap, Detroit music culture, hip hop mentorship, D12, Royce da 5'9, Marcus Belgrave, Detroit creative community, each one teaches one, Detroit vs everybody, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2025 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

How Detroit's Women Claimed Their Place in the Music Scene | Living for the City Ep. 4

Every era of Detroit music has been shaped by women, even when history tried to leave them out of the story. In Episode 4 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib explores the women who pushed past barriers, challenged expectations, and transformed Detroit's music scene in the process. DJ Minx reflects on three decades of demanding respect in spaces that weren't designed for her, and how that struggle led to Women on Wax, a collective dedicated to opening doors for the next generation. Brenda Franklin Corbett traces her journey from the choir at New Bethel Baptist Church to the stage alongside Aretha Franklin, sharing stories of the Queen of Soul that rarely make it into the history books. Don Was revisits Nick of Time, the Bonnie Raitt album that defied industry assumptions about who could succeed, while Waajeed explains why real inclusion requires more than good intentions—it requires building institutions that last. DJ LADYMONIX reflects on the dancefloor as a place of healing, belonging, and radical possibility. Together, their stories reveal that progress doesn't happen on its own. It happens because people fight for it. The episode closes with a tribute to techno pioneer K-Hand, Kelly Marie Hand, who spent her final night doing what she loved most: behind the decks. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Finding Your Way Into a Room That Wasn't Designed For You 02:07 - DJ Minx and the Making of Women on Wax 05:43 - Brenda Franklin Corbett: From New Bethel to Aretha's Stage 13:05 - Don Was, Bonnie Raitt, and What the Industry Got Wrong About Women 19:56 - The Dance Floor as Sacred Space: Lady Monx, K-Hand, and the Next Generation LINKS YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod [https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod] Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5] Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267] Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/ [https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/] TAGS / KEYWORDS Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, women in music, women DJs Detroit, DJ Minx, Women on Wax, Brenda Franklin Corbett, Aretha Franklin, Don Was, Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time, Waajeed, Underground Music Academy, Lady Monx, K-Hand, Kelly Marie Hand, Detroit Cobras, New Bethel Baptist, Detroit techno, Detroit dance music, women in electronic music, women in Detroit, Motor City Wine, Movement Festival, Detroit hip hop, Black women in music, inclusion in music, Detroit music scenes, DJ culture, dance floor culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, Detroit musicians, 2025 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]