Part two of RA.996 comes from a modern-day house luminary.
As part of our countdown to RA.1000, a milestone in the 24-year history of RA's weekly mix series, we're switching up the usual format. The next few editions will pair two acts who compliment each other's strengths, offering a fresh take on a particular community, scene or style.
This week, we're zeroing in on two names who fly the flag high for old-school, US house—a foundational pillar of the electronic underground. The first half comes from Ron Trent, which you can read more about here.
On the B-side is Ash Lauryn. Hailing from Detroit, she's a modern-day house savant. Her comprehensive understanding of the genre's history—knowledge gained from the Detroit greats who that inspired her—and her own inimitable blend of old-world soul meets new-school grooves make her a force to be reckoned with.
A former RA contributor, Lauryn keeps it real, whether in the booth or beyond. A role model to a new generation of DJs, she can just as easily be found teaching workshops at Underground Music Academy in Detroit or sharing tricks of the trade in the green room at some of the best clubs in the world.
An unwavering champion of Black dance music, the Atlanta resident makes it a point to play as much Black American music as possible, as she told us in her 2019 podcast. Not much has changed since then. Her contribution to RA.996 spans favourites like Larry Heard, Mood II Swing, Byron The Aquarius, Moodymann, Ron Trent and plenty of Detroit heavy-hitters.
Listened to together, both mixes are a powerful snapshot of house's timeless elegance and, most importantly, understated yet innately euphoric joy.
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/998
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RA.996 Ron Trent
The first half of RA.996 is Ron Trent's take on luxurious house.
As part of our countdown to RA.1000, a milestone in the 24-year history of RA's weekly mix series, we're switching up the usual format. The next few editions will pair two acts who complement each other's strengths, offering a fresh take on a particular community, scene or style.
This week, we're zeroing in on Ron Trent and Ash Lauryn, two names who fly the flag high for old-school US house—a foundational pillar of the electronic underground.
Trent takes the A-side. Hailing from Chicago, the birthplace of house, the pioneer is a master of finding the sweet spot where machine music meets organic instrumentation. Listen to any DJ set or record in his extensive back catalogue and you'll find a wealth of exquisitely expressive melodies and deep, spiritual frequencies, making him the ideal narrator for any survey on house. (If you've only got a moment, sink into "Morning Factory," nine minutes of perfection.)
Trent's return to the RA Podcast, 19 years after his debut in 2006, represents his many decades of expertise in fusing funk with gorgeous musicianship under the umbrella of heart-stirring house. Some may call it a masterclass but to us, it's just Trent doing what he does best.
Listened to as a whole, RA.996 is a powerful snapshot of house's elegance, class and most importantly, understated yet innately euphoric joy.
Find the interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/996
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RA.995 Kampire & DJ TOBZY
Kampire's half of a double-sided mix by two Nyege Nyege all-stars.
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Nyege Nyege is synonymous with radical sonic innovation. Since 2015, the boundary-pushing Ugandan festival and its associated label have become a vital hub for adventurous, experimental sounds emerging from East Africa and beyond. Its alumni roster includes some of the past decade's most thrilling and forward-thinking artists—DJ Travella, Nihiloxica, Juliana Huxtable, MC Yallah, and even New York's mayoral frontrunner, Zohran Mamdani. In the process, the collective has reimagined what club music can be.
On the B side mix is Kampire. The Kampala-based DJ has been a core member of the collective since the label's inception. Her mixes often feel like a lesson in musicology, weaving together narratives, tempos and genres while losing nothing in dance floor vitality. These talents are reflected in her contribution to RA.995. A typically kaleidoscopic blend of tough percussive workouts, infectious edits and raw, unreleased gems, the hour-long mix spans batida, singeli, bruxaria and countless more urgent sounds from the global underground.
The other half of this special release comes from the enigmatic DJ TOBZY, which you can find on the A-side.
Presented together, as the first edition of a new format marking the countdown to RA.1000, this two-sided mix offers a bracing snapshot of a label that has redefined electronic music over the last decade.
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/996
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RA.995 DJ TOBZY
Part A of a two-sided mix from two Nyege Nyege all-stars.
Nyege Nyege is synonymous with radical sonic innovation. Since 2015, the boundary-pushing Ugandan festival and its associated label have become a vital hub for adventurous, experimental sounds emerging from East Africa and beyond. Its alumni roster includes some of the past decade’s most thrilling and forward-thinking artists—DJ Travella, Nihiloxica, MC Yallah, and even New York's newly-elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani. In the process, the collective has reimagined what club music can be.
Kampala-based Kampire has been a core member of the collective since the label's inception. Her mixes often feel like a lesson in musicology: weaving together narratives, tempos and genres while losing nothing in dance floor vitality. These talents are reflected in her contribution to RA.995. A typically kaleidoscopic blend of tough percussive workouts, infectious edits and raw, unreleased gems, the hour-long mix spans batida, singeli, bruxaria and countless more urgent sounds from the global underground.
Then there's the enigmatic DJ TOBZY. At the tender age of 23, he's at the forefront of the effervescent cruise scene in his adopted hometown of Lagos. Breakneck, unpolished and fiercely DIY, it's a sound Giulio Pecci described as "a delirious blur of vocals and drums, influenced by other African dance music styles but moving only to its own strange, internal logic." TOBZY's mix captures the frenetic energy of a scene evolving in real time.
Presented together, as the first edition of a new format marking the countdown to RA.1000, this mix offers a bracing snapshot of a label that has redefined electronic music over the last decade.
Find the tracklist and interview at ra.co/podcast/995
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RA.994 D.Dan
Waves of pulsing, layered techno from the revered Mala Junta resident.
If the electronic music industry is caught in the crosshairs of a battle over what makes for true techno, then D.Dan is one of the underground's great modern emissaries.
A figurehead from the new guard of DJs to arise in the '20s, the Berlin-based artist and Mala Junta resident is an ambassador for a sound that is strongly anchored in the classic roots of techno. His productions, like his mixes, are revved-up takes on the hypnotic wormholes that defined dance floors last decade, but with a fresh (and high BPM) millennial twist.
Originally from Seattle, D.Dan became enamoured with the spectral stylings of psych rock and shoegaze in adolescence. It's not difficult to see how the cosmic tapestry of bands like Cocteau Twins became a blueprint for the entrancing music he's gone on to make as an adult. His releases on Mutant Future and summerpup are latticeworks of loops and layered percussion, custom-tooled for lost hours on the dance floor and drawn-out mixes behind the decks.
This approach directly extends into his DJ practice, where he pairs song selections from contemporaries that mirror his own reduced, controlled approach to techno. RA.994 is a Grade A display of contemporary four-to-the-floor from flagbearers like Roll Dann and Marcal.
And like D.Dan's standalone records, his RA Podcast finds room for sweetness—the intermittent peal of an open clap, the steady ripening of a chord—while ultimately emphasising the beauty of function and form over flair.
@ddan-sounds
Find the full interview and tracklist at ra.co/podcast/994
Ireland