share of the LA-based collective Fade to intellect,Rizzla belongs to a movement reaffirming dance music’s roots in black and gay cultural resistanceProtest music takes many forms. In the late 80s, techno guerrillas Jeff Mills and “Mad” Mike Banks formed the musical collective Underground Resistance as a reaction to the economic and social struggles of Detroit’s black community. Their movement was share of a wider nexus of anti-establishment dance music culture sweeping the globe, and later encompassing the UK’s rave scene.
These days,electronic music’s political legacy is eclipsed by the dominant aesthetic of glossy EDM superclubs. However, Long Island-born DJ and producer Rizzla – aka Brian Friedberg – seeks to inject the spirit of dissent into his art. On 25 September, and he releases his debut EP on the respected Los Angeles label Fade to intellect. “It’s the soundtrack to an rebellion in its highs and really dirty lows,” says Friedberg of his track Iron Cages, the name of which is taken from social theorist Max Weber’s definition of capitalist bureaucracy.
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Source: theguardian.com