Juke for The National

Here's my review-essay for The National's Review about Planet Mu's recent juke releases as a (small) PDF, most notably the 'Bangs and Works Volume 1' compilation. I got into levels of racial segregation in American cities (Chicago ranks fifth worst in the US: I BET you can't guess the other four worst without reading the piece first), etymology and slave 'joog houses', geographical dislocation and, er, The Lion King.

"...all the congruent energy and avant-garde creativity of juke’s global peers looms into view, like separate battalions coming over the top of the hill and converging on the battlefield. The superficialities of form and tempo may differentiate Chicago juke from, say, kuduro in Luanda, or baile funk in Rio, but their commonality of spirit is undeniable. Scenius is not confined by geographical limits, and it does not mark the death of grassroots music that disparate underground sounds can now seep up through the global soil."