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Living for the City

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Before Detroit gave the world Motown, techno, and hip-hop, it gave the world something harder to name: a feeling that music made in basements and backrooms and borrowed spaces could become the soundtrack to an entire generation's life. That is the story Living for the City is here to tell, and nobody alive is better equipped to tell it than Hanif Abdurraqib.

MacArthur Fellow. New York Times bestselling author. The most gifted writer working at the intersection of music, memory, and American identity today. Hanif brings his singular voice to a new video podcast series that goes inside the streets, venues, and neighborhoods where iconic sounds are born, talking with the artists, DJs, producers, and community architects who built these movements from the ground up.

Season One is Detroit. Eight episodes. The full arc of how one city became the unlikely origin point for some of the most influential music ever made, told by the people who were actually there, and the writer who understands better than anyone what it meant.

This is not a music history lesson. This is a front-row seat to the moments that mattered.

Living for the City premieres May 13th, with new episodes dropping weekly. Subscribe now on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

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/


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  • 20 episodes
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  • English

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  • S1 · E19
    Yesterday · 35 min

    Bill Blackwell on 50 Years as Bob Seger's Tour Manager | Living for the City Full Interview

    Bill Blackwell has been Bob Seger's tour manager for 50 years, a career that puts him at the center of Detroit's rock and roll story from the sock hops of the late 1960s through stadium tours decades later. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. Blackwell traces Seger's regional grind, driving through the night to play shows in Florida for a broken record. He recounts the electric night Live Bullet was recorded at Cobo Hall, and the Pontiac Silverdome show that turned 80 people in Chicago into 80,000 fans almost overnight. He talks about the vanished Detroit venues that shaped the city's live music scene, and his own start as a college entertainment director booking Ted Nugent and the Pretty Things. And he explains why Seger always closed the show, even when Peter Frampton's team pushed for top billing weeks before Frampton Comes Alive turned Frampton into a superstar. He also tells the story of the Canadian customs officer who pulled him and Seger off a routine border crossing just to get his Live Bullet album autographed. He remembers caddying for Seger's celebrity golf round with Tiger Woods at the Buick Open. And he explains how a 90-minute soundcheck before every single show became the standard, one that never changed no matter how big the tours got. CHAPTERS 00:25 - First Time Seeing Bob Seger: The 1969 Sock Hop and the Regional Grind 03:33 - Recording Live Bullet at Cobo Hall and the Night That Changed Everything 06:41 - The Work Ethic: 90-Minute Soundchecks and "Making It Right for the Fans" 10:09 - Detroit's Lost Venues and the College Booking Days 13:56 - Staying Rooted in Detroit: Auto Worker Paydays and "The Fans Own 80 to 85% of the Setlist" 18:31 - Golfing With Tiger Woods at the Buick Open 23:11 - The Frampton Negotiation and a Drummer's Emergency Flight 25:33 - December 1975: The Month Everything Changed 28:00 - Punch, Coral Gables, and 50 Years on the Road With Bob 30:06 - Crossing the Canadian Border and Night Moves Blowing Up 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 Bill Blackwell, Bob Seger, Bob Seger tour manager, Live Bullet, Detroit rock history, Cobo Hall, Pontiac Silverdome, Bob Seger Tiger Woods, Peter Frampton, Frampton Comes Alive, Detroit music history, Night Moves, Stranger in Town, Ramblin Gamblin Man, Detroit venues, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E18
    September 9 · 45 min

    Isiah Thomas on the Bad Boys and Why Detroit Never Got Credit | Living for the City Full Interview

    Isiah Thomas is a Basketball Hall of Famer and the captain of the Detroit Pistons' "Bad Boys," the back-to-back champions who played the game their own way and never apologized for it. This conversation goes far beyond basketball. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. Thomas walks through the sound of the Bad Boys locker room, the shift from funk to hip hop, "Freaks Come Out at Night" as the team's entrance music, and the season MTV and Downtown Julie Brown followed the team around Detroit. He talks about the crowd erupting to Hava Nagila one quarter and Prince the next, the third jersey that started as pure Detroit innovation, and why the team's national reputation as villains never matched how the city actually saw them. He gets specific about Kid Rock and Eminem sharing the arena, MC Hammer bringing TLC to the Palace, and the Dietrich furs that became part of a swagger the team built by actually being in the neighborhoods. He also opens up about his decades-long friendship with Aretha Franklin, from the day her family reached out to a young player who didn't know how to pay his bills, to the night he escorted her to her final performance at the Kennedy Center, and the eulogy he gave from the heart at her funeral. He talks about the vets who raised him, Phil Hubbard and Greg Kelser, what he thinks sports mentorship has lost, and why Detroit felt like home from day one. CHAPTERS 00:15 - The Bad Boys Locker Room: From Funk to Hip Hop 01:13 - MTV, Downtown Julie Brown, and Breaking Mariah Carey 03:07 - Villains Nationally, Motown at Home: The Real Detroit Story 06:04 - "Freaks Come Out at Night" and the Sound of the Bad Boys 10:10 - The Third Jersey and the Birth of Bad Boys Marketing 13:20 - Kid Rock, Eminem, MC Hammer, and a City That Never Got Credit 16:57 - Dietrich Furs and Building Real Swagger 19:30 - Aretha Franklin: Friendship, Community, and a Eulogy From the Heart 26:09 - Phil Hubbard, Greg Kelser, and the Lost Art of Veteran Mentorship 31:44 - Home From Day One: Diversity, the Current Pistons, and What It Means to Win in Detroit 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 Isiah Thomas, Isiah Thomas interview, Detroit Pistons Bad Boys, Isiah Thomas Aretha Franklin, Bad Boys Pistons, Detroit basketball history, Isiah Thomas Hall of Fame, Aretha Franklin friendship, Detroit sports culture, Detroit music history, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit Pistons history, MC Hammer Detroit, Kid Rock Eminem Detroit, Detroit culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E17
    September 2 · 32 min

    Nasaan on Proof's Legacy, Detroit Rap, and Kicking Down the Door | Living for the City Full Interview

    Nasaan is a Detroit rapper, director, editor, and world-builder who signed to Atlantic Records off the first video he ever made, and whose ERA 404 project — part album, part short film, part visual universe — is one of the most ambitious pieces of work to come out of Detroit hip hop in years. He is also the son of Proof, D12's beloved rapper and Eminem's closest collaborator, who was shot and killed in 2006. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. In this interview, Nasaan talks about growing up between Detroit and Atlanta, how two cities shaped a sound that doesn't belong entirely to either, and why he spent years running from his father's legacy before he finally decided to embrace it. He breaks down ERA 404 — the Severance-inspired concept, the cardigan-wearing intern character, the 404 as both Atlanta's area code and an internet error — and talks about his next project, Method Acting, and what it means to get so deep inside a world you become the character. He talks about Big Sean as a mentor and older brother, what Royce da 5'9" has meant to him, and why he thinks it just takes one artist to kick the door down for a new era of Detroit rap. This one is about carrying something forward without letting it define you. CHAPTERS 00:24 - The Renaissance Man: Rapping, Directing, Editing, Producing 01:44 - Necessity as the Mother of Invention: Learning to Do It Himself 02:51 - Born in Detroit, Raised in Atlanta: Two Cultures, One Sound 05:35 - The Pressure of Legacy and Learning to Stop Running from It 09:42 - Royce da 5'9", Big Sean, and the Mentors Who Held Him Down 12:10 - Goated, Severance, and the World of ERA 404 15:52 - Big Sean and What Detroit Owes Him 18:40 - Where Detroit Rap Is Going and Who's Going to Kick the Door Down 22:14 - Atlanta vs Detroit: Infrastructure, Cliques, and What's Missing Here 26:30 - Method Acting and What Comes Next 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 Nasaan, Nasaan interview, Nasaan Detroit rapper, ERA 404, Method Acting album, Proof D12 son, Detroit hip hop, Big Sean, Royce da 5'9", Atlantic Records Detroit, Detroit rap next generation, world building rap, Detroit music future, Eminem D12, Proof rapper, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E16
    August 26 · 48 min

    House Shoes on Detroit Radio, J Dilla, and DJ Integrity | Living for the City Full Interview

    House Shoes is a Detroit DJ and producer who spent a decade as the resident DJ at St. Andrew's Hall, ran Street Corner Music as a label for over a decade, and came up alongside J Dilla and Proof before relocating to Los Angeles. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. House Shoes talks about coming up on Detroit radio with Electrifying Mojo and The Wizard, breaking into the St. Andrew's Hall scene as a teenager, forming his crew 31 Flavors, and learning to make beats in J Dilla's basement. He gets into what it took to hold onto his integrity as a DJ once Detroit's hip hop scene started chasing hits after 1996. He also gets into the year he lost both Dilla and Proof and left Detroit for Los Angeles, building Street Corner Music into a label that gave dozens of artists their first record, and the lesson Dilla taught him about finishing a beat before he ever played it for anyone. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Growing Up on Detroit Radio and Discovering the Scene 10:11 - Forming 31 Flavors and a Decade Behind the Decks at St. Andrew's Hall 12:20 - Meeting J Dilla and Learning the Discipline of Curation 19:53 - Losing Dilla and Proof and Leaving Detroit 25:53 - Rebuilding Life and Community in Los Angeles 32:24 - The Future of Detroit Rap and Mentorship Across Generations 37:49 - Street Corner Music and Giving Artists Their First Record 42:10 - Dilla's Mentorship and Staying True to the Work 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, House Shoes, Detroit hip hop, Detroit DJ, St. Andrew's Hall, Street Corner Music, J Dilla, Proof, Detroit rap history, 31 Flavors, Detroit music history, Detroit hip hop history, Detroit culture, hip hop podcast, music history podcast, Danny Brown, Denmark Vesey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E15
    August 19 · 40 min

    Brenda Franklin Corbett on Growing Up With Aretha Franklin | Living for the City Full Interview

    Brenda Franklin Corbett is Aretha Franklin's cousin, raised in the Franklin family home in Detroit alongside Aretha, Carolyn, Erma, and Cecil, and one of Aretha's longtime background singers as part of the trio Aretha named the Prima Donnas. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. Brenda talks about singing with the grown folks in the choir at New Bethel Baptist Church by age six, in her own robe and her own chair, and the parade of legends who passed through the Franklin house on Oakland and East Grand Boulevard, from B.B. King and Cab Calloway to Mahalia Jackson. She gets into what it took to hold a note behind an artist who wanted the sound, the routines, and the look all perfect. She also gets into the move to Los Angeles to help raise Aretha's children, her role advising the film Respect, and the day of Aretha's funeral, when she turned off the broadcast to catch a flight and landed three hours later to find it was still going. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Born Into the Franklin House 06:41 - Learning Her Voice 09:27 - Chasing the Dream to New York 12:17 - Singing Behind Aretha 17:49 - Los Angeles and Raising the Kids 22:33 - The Future of Gospel 25:15 - Guarding the Legacy 30:06 - What She's Most Proud Of 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, Brenda Franklin Corbett, Aretha Franklin, Detroit gospel, Detroit music history, New Bethel Baptist Church, C.L. Franklin, Prima Donnas, background singers, Respect movie, Detroit soul music, gospel music Detroit, Detroit church music, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E14
    August 19 · 46 min

    Mary Cobra on the Detroit Cobras and the Art of the Cover Song | Living for the City Full Interview

    Mary Cobra is the founding guitarist of The Detroit Cobras, the band she started with singer Rachel Nagy that became one of the defining sounds of Detroit garage rock in the late '90s and early 2000s. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. Mary talks about growing up on bad Detroit radio, and how the silence pushed a generation of musicians to make the music nobody else would play for them. She traces the Cobras' sound back to crate digging through dollar bin soul 45s, and explains why the goal was never to imitate a singer's voice but to find the feeling underneath it. She breaks down her advice for young bands on why every act should cover a song at least once, and what it means if that cover ends up better than anything else in the set. She also gets into the cheap rent and cheap bars that made Detroit's scene possible, the night Jack White told her at a bar that she should see what was happening and get on the road, and why the Cobras never set out to get signed but got picked up almost immediately once they did. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Meeting Mary Cobra: Founding Guitarist of the Detroit Cobras 00:54 - Detroit's Bad Radio and Growing Up on Motown, MC5, and The Stooges 03:22 - Digging Through Record Stores in a City With Nothing Else to Do 04:38 - Playing for Friends, Not for a Record Deal 07:16 - Cheap Rent, No Fear, and the Freedom to Tour 10:19 - Crate Digging Soul Records and Why a Cover Isn't About the Notes 22:13 - From Playing for Fun to Getting Signed 25:54 - What Success Changed and Why Every Young Band Should Play a Cover 33:17 - The Gold Dollar, Cutting 45s, and Becoming a Band's Band 40:01 - Bars as Detroit's Ecosystem and Where the Grit Came From 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, Mary Cobra, Mary Cobra interview, The Detroit Cobras, Rachel Nagy, Detroit garage rock, Detroit rock history, Detroit music history, garage rock revival, Gold Dollar Detroit, Cass Corridor Detroit, Fortune Records Detroit, Detroit 45s, Detroit vinyl culture, Jack White, The White Stripes, Detroit crate digging, soul music covers, Detroit bars, Detroit DIY music scene, Detroit rock and roll, MC5, The Stooges, Motown, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E13
    August 5 · 31 min

    LADYMONIX on Why She Left LA and Made Detroit Home | Living for the City Full Interview

    LADYMONIX is a Detroit DJ who drove across the country from LA in 2016, spent her first year just going out and dancing, and has held a Sunday night residency at Motor City Wine for nine years. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. In this interview, LADYMONIX talks about why she left LA — the cliques, the cutthroat energy, the $3,500 overhead that made creativity feel impossible — and why Detroit gave her something she didn't even know she was looking for. She talks about how she got the Motor City Wine gig, why she plays five-hour sets every week, and what it means to build a room where people feel free enough to actually dance. She opens up about DJing as healing work rather than power, why she dislikes the word "fans" and prefers "supporters," and how Detroit's crowd changed the music she makes because they already know exactly what they like. She also talks about why 90% of her guest bookings are women, why that never needs to be announced, and the lineage of women who came before her in this city — DJ Minx, K-Hand, Stacey Hale — and what it means to keep that door open. This one is about finding the place where your work finally makes sense. CHAPTERS 00:29 - Landing in Detroit: Why She Left LA and What She Found Here 03:45 - The Scene in LA vs the Scene in Detroit 07:08 - Affordability, Anxiety, and What Financial Breathing Room Does for Creativity 09:18 - Nine Years at Motor City Wine: How the Residency Started and How It Held 12:02 - DJing as Healing Work, Not Power 14:20 - Reading a Room on the Fly and What Detroit Crowds Demand 17:19 - Digging Every Day and How Detroit Changed Her Taste 19:22 - The Future of Detroit Techno and Who Is Making It Now 23:40 - Generations on the Dance Floor and What That Means 25:52 - Sharing the Stage and Why 90% of Her Bookings Are Women 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 Lady Monix, Lady Monix interview, Motor City Wine Detroit, Detroit DJ, Detroit house music, Detroit techno, women DJs Detroit, DJ Minx, K-Hand Detroit, crate digging, Detroit music scene, DJ residency Detroit, healing through music, Detroit community, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E12
    July 29 · 40 min

    Carl Craig on Detroit Techno, the Art of the Alias, and the Future of Electronic Music | Living for the City Full Interview

    Carl Craig is one of Detroit techno's most important architects, the producer behind Bug in the Bassbin, Landcruising, More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art, and a body of work released under so many aliases — Paperclip People, 69, Innerzone Orchestra — that the full scope of his influence is almost impossible to map. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. In this interview, Carl traces his origin story from playing Axel F on his cousin's Sequential Circuits synthesizer to carrying 12-inches to a family reunion in Georgia where Egypt Egypt cleared the room. He talks about Electrifying Mojo, Alan Oldham's Fast Forward, and the radio that raised him, and why the homogenization of radio in the '90s was a loss the culture still hasn't recovered from. He breaks down the art of the alias, why making music under different identities freed him from genre constraints, and how Sun Ra and George Clinton got there first. Carl also reflects on why Detroit's architecture and its ruins both fed his sonic world-building, why he came back after living in London and Spain, and what it would take for electronic music — and hip hop — to find their way back underground. This one is about defiance, imagination, and the career you build when you refuse to play it safe. CHAPTERS 00:00 - A Career Built on Defiance 00:22 - First Synth, First Record, First Crowd 05:34 - Detroit Radio, Electrifying Mojo, and the Adventure of FM 09:18 - Watching the First Wave Leave for Europe 12:01 - Musical Influences: Trevor Horn, Art of Noise, the UK 14:44 - More Songs About Food and the Synths Behind It 19:44 - The Art of the Alias: Sun Ra, George Clinton, and Paperclip People 25:02 - Detroit's Architecture and the Music It Inspired 27:47 - Why He Came Back: Big Fish, Small Pond, and Honest City 30:56 - The Future of Electronic Music and What Hip Hop Needs to Remember 37:16 - Detroit Public Schools and the Legacy of What Was Possible 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 Carl Craig, Carl Craig interview, Detroit techno, Paperclip People, 69 Carl Craig, Innerzone Orchestra, Bug in the Bassbin, Landcruising, More Songs About Food, Detroit music history, Electrifying Mojo, Detroit radio, Belleville Three, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, J Dilla, Afrofuturism techno, Detroit electronic music, alias in music, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E11
    July 22 · 49 min

    Kevin Saunderson on Pioneering Detroit Techno and Its Legacy | Living for the City FULL Interview

    Kevin Saunderson is one of the Belleville Three, the teenagers from suburban Michigan who invented Detroit techno, the architect behind Inner City, and one of the most influential catalogs in electronic music history. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. In this interview, Kevin traces his path from New York to Inkster to Belleville, where he met Derrick May and eventually Juan Atkins, and where there was nothing to do but make music. He talks about the early days at the Music Institute, driving records to Chicago to get them played alongside house music, and the night at Heaven in London when he first heard Big Fun played for a crowd that rushed the dance floor. He breaks down the origin of the word techno, why his sound went toward melody and vocals when the others went abstract, and how the Reese Bass ended up shaping not just techno but hip hop without most people knowing it. Kevin also reflects on the racism he encountered in Belleville, the segregation that made it harder to break in America than in Europe, and what it meant to watch the city of Detroit finally embrace what he helped build decades after he built it. This one is about invention, patience, and what it means to go full circle. CHAPTERS 00:19 - From New York to Belleville: How Kevin Found the Music 02:50 - Meeting Derrick May and Juan Atkins 04:16 - The Light Switch: Giving Up Football for Music 07:31 - The Belleville Three and the Mythology Growing Around Them 09:44 - Driving to Chicago and Finding the First Audiences 10:57 - Big Fun in London: The First Time He Heard His Music Move a Crowd 14:32 - The Music Institute in Its Prime 17:35 - Why America Was Different: Segregation, Radio, and the Industry 20:31 - The Reese Bass, Collaboration, and Techno Boulevard 36:39 - Staying in Detroit and What Keeps Him Here 40:07 - The Future of Techno and What Full Circle Looks Like 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 Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson interview, Belleville Three, Detroit techno history, Inner City Detroit, Reese Bass, Detroit techno origin, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Music Institute Detroit, techno history, Big Fun Inner City, Detroit electronic music, Movement Festival Detroit, DJ Minx, Carl Craig, Techno Boulevard Detroit, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E10
    July 15 · 1 hr 3 min

    Waajeed on Dilla, Slum Village and Detroit's Music Future | Living for the City FULL Interview

    Waajeed is a Detroit producer and DJ who came up with J Dilla and Slum Village, co-founded the Underground Music Academy in the old NAACP building on the north end of Detroit, and hosts a weekly show on WDET. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. In this interview, Waajeed traces his origin story from rolling dice in Pershing High School's parking lot to landing in Amp Fiddler's basement, where a generation of Detroit artists learned how to make music and how to move through the world. He talks about his years with Slum Village, keeping the trains on the tracks, designing the album covers, filming the footage and why he eventually walked away from hip hop entirely. He breaks down the Platinum Pied Pipers record, his collaboration with Dwele, and the genre-defying freedom behind Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz. Waajeed also opens up about why he came back to Detroit after nine years in New York, what it means to own the things you pour yourself into, and how the Underground Music Academy became a space where every skillset he has — design, music, building, mentorship — finally came together in one place. This one is about legacy, lineage, and what it means to be a conduit. CHAPTERS 00:28 - The Underground Music Academy and the NAACP Building 03:08 - What Mentorship Actually Means: Lessons from Amp Fiddler 08:13 - Growing Up Next to a Prison: Urgency, Survival, and Detroit 12:29 - Funky Drummer, Dilla's Basement, and the Birth of a Sound 14:41 - Slum Village: Keeping the Trains on the Tracks 19:22 - Platinum Pied Pipers and Breaking Away from Hip Hop 29:07 - The Shelter, Genre Freedom, and Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz 36:35 - Nine Years in New York and Why He Came Back 40:48 - Gentrification, Culture Drain, and What Detroit Owes Itself 48:46 - The Future of the Underground Music Academy 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 Waajeed, Waajeed interview, Underground Music Academy Detroit, Slum Village, J Dilla, Platinum Pied Pipers, Amp Fiddler, Dwele Detroit, Detroit hip hop history, Detroit music producer, Detroit techno, Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz, Detroit gentrification, WDET radio Detroit, Detroit mentorship, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Detroit music history, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E9
    July 8 · 48 min

    DJ Minx on Building Detroit's Techno Scene from the Ground Up | Living for the City FULL Interview

    DJ Minx is one of the founding architects of Detroit's techno and house scene, the creator of Women on Wax, and one of the most important DJs the city has ever produced. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib. In this extended interview, Minx traces her origin story from discovering techno through Electrifying Mojo on the radio to walking into her first gig with a bag of records and getting laughed at by the women at the door. She breaks down the difference between house and techno, the short-lived clubs that kept Black dance culture alive in Detroit, and what the Music Institute meant to an entire generation of dancers and DJs. She talks about Moodymann showing up at three of her parties before finally telling her she was starting a label in two weeks whether she felt ready or not, and how that conversation led to the Airborne EP and the birth of Women on Wax. Minx also reflects on the responsibility of preservation — why Detroit techno needs to be in history books, why playing vinyl is a skill that not everyone has, and what it felt like to be on stage with K-Hand the last night she ever performed. CHAPTERS 00:00 - The Shelter, the Music Institute, and Early Black Dance Culture in Detroit 03:56 - House vs Techno and the DJ Culture That Grew from the Dance Floor 08:00 - Radio, Electrifying Mojo, and Keeping Detroit Techno Alive 12:00 - How Minx Got Into DJing as a Woman in Detroit 18:59 - Moodymann, the Label Conversation, and the Birth of Airborne 23:03 - Women on Wax: From Mentorship to Movement 33:34 - The DJ's Role, Vinyl as a Craft, and Preserving Detroit Techno 41:00 - K-Hand: The Last Night 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 DJ Minx, DJ Minx interview, Women on Wax Detroit, Detroit techno history, Detroit house music, Music Institute Detroit, Detroit DJ culture, Electrifying Mojo, Moodymann, K-Hand Detroit, Detroit women DJs, vinyl DJing, Detroit techno pioneer, Airborne EP, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, techno history, house music history, Detroit underground music, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S1 · E8
    July 1 · 27 min

    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 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5Apple 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 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

  • S1 · E7
    June 24 · 24 min

    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 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 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

  • S1 · E6
    June 17 · 24 min

    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

  • S1 · E5
    June 10 · 28 min

    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

  • S1 · E4
    June 3 · 32 min

    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 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, 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

  • S1 · E3
    May 27 · 31 min

    How Detroit's Radio Stations Shaped a Generation | Living for the City Ep. 3

    In Detroit, radio wasn't background noise. It was the whole conversation. In Episode 3 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib traces the invisible infrastructure of Detroit's sound. Not the studios or the stages, but the airwaves. Kevin Saunderson remembers hearing the Electrifying Mojo and knowing, before he ever made a record, what music was supposed to feel like. Brian McCollum, the Detroit Free Press journalist who has spent decades refusing to let the city's music go undocumented, traces the arc from CKLW and the golden age of AM radio to the commoditized '90s that drove artists to make the music they couldn't hear on the dial. And Liz Warner, who returned to Detroit's airwaves in 2024, talks about what it means to inherit that responsibility. Hanif revisits the memory of waiting by the radio with blank cassette tapes, as he lands on the belief that he keeps coming back to: the best DJs don't play what you want to hear. They play what you need to hear before you know you need it. Electrifying Mojo understood that. So did Martha Jean “the Queen,” who carried the city through the 1967 riots with nothing but a microphone and a commitment to making people feel less alone. This one is about the frequencies that shaped everything else. CHAPTERS 00:00 - The Porch Lights Flicker: Electrifying Mojo and the Power of Detroit Radio 02:11 - CKLW and the Golden Age: When Detroit Was a National Radio Market 03:32 - The Segregation of Sound: Breaking Artists on Black Radio 05:41 - FM Radio Opens Up: Space, Songs, and the City 07:06 - Raised by Mojo and The Wizard: A Generation Built on the Airwaves 23:51 - Martha Jean “the Queen” and What Radio Owes a Community 27:42 - What Radio Gave and What Streaming Can Never Replace 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 radio history, Electrifying Mojo, WGPR Detroit, WJZZ Detroit, CKLW Detroit, Jeff Mills The Wizard, Kevin Saunderson, Carl Craig, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Martha Jean the Queen, Mojo in the Morning, Liz Warner, Brian McCollum, Sterling Toles, Detroit techno, Detroit radio, FM radio history, Black radio history, Midnight Funk Association, Detroit music culture, Detroit creative community, Detroit hip hop, J Dilla, Drexciya, radio vs streaming, music discovery, Detroit DJ culture, techno origin story, Belleville Three, Detroit labor, working class Detroit, 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

  • S1 · E2
    May 20 · 20 min

    The Buildings That Built Detroit's Sound Are Almost All Gone | Living For the City Ep. 2

    The city’s sound was shaped by places never built to last – until the music changed everything. In Episode 2 of Living for the City, Hanif Abdurraqib asks what happens to the spaces that shaped the music once the city around them begins to change. Waajeed, DJ and producer and one of Detroit's living encyclopedias, walks through what was lost when the lofts at The Griswold got converted into luxury apartments. DJ Minx reflects on the Music Institute as something close to a religion, and what it felt like when it was gone. Don Was goes back to being 16 at the Grande Ballroom, a place that offered what he calls a utopian vision of teenage freedom. And at Underground Resistance, still standing, the conversation turns to what it actually takes to preserve not just a building but the community that gave it meaning. Hanif argues that the innovations that allow people to gather are just as important as the innovations of the music itself. You need the sound. But you also need the basement, the warehouse, the bar on a bad block that somehow sold out on a Sunday. Detroit has always found those places. The question is what happens when those spaces no longer exist. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - The Griswold: What Was Lost When the Lofts Became Luxury 01:56 - Cheap Space and Creative Community: Why Affordability Builds Scenes 05:25 - The Music Institute: A Religion That Ended Without Warning 06:05 - St. Andrews, The Shelter, and the Art Versus Commerce Shift 10:00 - Underground Resistance: Community Project and Music Factory 12:28 - The Gold Dollar and Grande Ballroom: Freedom on a Bad Block 16:17 - Motor City Wine: How Detroit Keeps Building New Architecture New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 venues, Detroit gentrification, Music Institute Detroit, The Griswold Detroit, St. Andrews Hall Detroit, The Shelter Detroit, Grande Ballroom Detroit, Gold Dollar Detroit, Underground Resistance Detroit, Motor City Wine Detroit, Cobo Arena, Waajeed, DJ Minx, Don Was, Detroit techno, Detroit DJ culture, Detroit creative community, Detroit music venues, Detroit dance music, Black dance culture, Detroit rock, MC5, The Stooges, Detroit Cobras, house music Detroit, techno history, creative displacement, affordability and art, Detroit neighborhoods, Detroit nightlife, 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

  • S1 · E1
    May 13 · 23 min

    How Detroit's Working Class Built the Sound the Whole World Stole | Living for the City Ep. 1

    Detroit’s music didn’t come from nowhere. It came from working people who carried the rhythm of the city with them long after the shift ended. In the debut episode of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib traces the thread between labor and art that runs through everything Detroit has ever made. Berry Gordy IV reflects on his father modeling Motown on the assembly line and what it meant to build stars the same way Detroit built cars. Kevin Saunderson breaks down the early days of proving parents wrong in a blue-collar town that didn't yet believe in them. Don Was recalls playing bar gigs for $10 a night before becoming one of the most important producers in the world. And Bob Seger's longtime tour manager Bill Blackwell explains what Detroit pride actually looks like when autoworkers show up at a golf tournament holding Live Bullet albums. Detroit, Hanif argues, is a stamp of authenticity. You had to go through something to get here. And what came out the other side became techno, rock, Motown, hip hop. Something the whole world is still listening to. This one starts at the source. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - The Engine of the City: How Detroit Built Its Sound 04:18 - Techno Boulevard: Three Teenagers Who Invented a Genre0 8:20 - The Motown Blueprint: How Berry Gordy Built Stars Like Cars 11:00 - The Grind: Don Was, Bob Seger, and Earning Detroit's Respect 15:00 - Day Job Artists: Working the Plant and Making Records 19:04 - The Democratization of Genius: Dilla, Aretha, and Detroit's Spirit 22:05 - Next Time: The Buildings That Built Detroit's Music New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe now on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 music documentary, techno history, Motown history, Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Berry Gordy, Don Was, Bob Seger, Bill Blackwell, J Dilla, DJ Minx, Detroit techno, Detroit labor, assembly line music, working class Detroit, Detroit hip hop, Detroit rock, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, Detroit musicians, Belleville Three, techno origin story, Motown assembly line, Dennis Coffey, Detroit pride, music and work, artists and day jobs, Detroit creative community, 2025 podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • May 10 · 1 min

    Living for the City (Official Trailer): Premieres May 13th!

    Before Detroit gave the world Motown, techno, and hip-hop, it gave the world something harder to name: a feeling that music made in basements and backrooms and borrowed spaces could become the soundtrack to an entire generation's life. That is the story Living for the City is here to tell, and nobody alive is better equipped to tell it than Hanif Abdurraqib. MacArthur Fellow. New York Times bestselling author. The most gifted writer working at the intersection of music, memory, and American identity today. Hanif brings his singular voice to a new video podcast series that goes inside the streets, venues, and neighborhoods where iconic sounds are born, talking with the artists, DJs, producers, and community architects who built these movements from the ground up. Season One is Detroit. Eight episodes. The full arc of how one city became the unlikely origin point for some of the most influential music ever made, told by the people who were actually there, and the writer who understands better than anyone what it meant. This is not a music history lesson. This is a front-row seat to the moments that mattered. Living for the City premieres May 13th, with new episodes dropping weekly. Subscribe now on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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