Footwork (genre)

In Europe, juke has been popular in European clubs, particularly in Paris, Brussels, and Spain for years. UK label Planet Mu's compilations Bangs and Works Volume 1 (2010) and Bangs and Works Volume 2 (2011) have brought the work of Chicago DJs to a wider audience, drawing some media attention and becoming the first internationally recognized juke compilations.[5] The liner notes for Vol. 1 noted:

Footwork is a hyper rhythmic, abstract dance music, pitched around 160bpm, that largely consists of a template of cut-up samples and phrases that are twisted into repetitive rhythms & shapes, to offbeat, syncopated drum machine patterns and pumping sub-bass lines.[12]

Apart from Bangs and Works, Planet Mu has also been releasing original albums by Chicago footwork artists, for example Da Trax Antology by DJ Nate (2010), which are oftentimes sourced from shelved tracks from the 2000s Myspace and imeem.com era.[16]

The Hyperdub label has been a supporter of juke music, releasing much of DJ Rashad's material. Deeon has released two projects on the famous French Ghetto music label Booty Call Records in 2013[22]

The early attempt to emulate juke sound in Europe was the infamous "Footcrab" by Addison Groove, coming out in 2010 on Loefah's SWAMP 81 label. "Footcrab" took inspiration from footwork, however the sound of "Footcrab" was slowed down to match the tempo of UK bass genres, around 140 BPM. "Footcrab" drew some criticism to be parting ways from the raw nature of juke roots in Chicago and only emulating the sound of juke on a "child-like" surface level and the production on "Footcrab" was deemed "cheap".[23] Notwithstanding the criticism, "Footcrab" put Addison Groove on forefront of the UK Bass scene in the United Kingdom. His subsequent full-length album called Transistor Rhythm released on Modeselector's 50 Weapons label, while retaining the influence of footwork, shifted more to the earlier days of the genre and to the sound of its immediate predecessor, ghetto house, including ravey synths at much slower tempos that footwork, around 120–140 BPM. However, the album was also met with mixed to negative reviews.[23]

Mike Paradinas, who helped popularize footwork/juke in Europe and beyond, by releasing Bangs and Works series of compilations

Apart from isolated releases like those by Addison Groove and handful of others, footwork/juke did not meet wide native acceptance in the United Kingdom. Mike Paradinas, the head of Planet Mu label explained this by making two points: first, in his words, was that British party culture is markedly different – relying on illegal substances and drinking – it would have hard time to catch on rather athletic footwork dancing, and second, in his words, is that historically British artists were generally reluctant to appropriate whole cultures, instead trying to either make their own domestic trends or to add a distinct spin to an existing culture, the thing that did not happen to footwork in Britain.[24]

In contrast with Britain, Japan, according to Mike Paradinas, did not hesitate to appropriate western subcultures in their entirety, and that was the reason why in Japan footwork/juke sprung to become, over the 2010s, one of the dominant electronic dance music genres, paired with the burgeoning footwork dancing scene, with competitions and tournaments.[24]

DJ Fulltono from Osaka is credited as a first notable pioneer of footwork/juke in Japan.[25] He started bringing footwork/juke into his mixes around 2008, two years prior to the release of the first compilation from Bangs and Works series on Planet Mu,[24] and at the time, the dominant types of electronic dance music in Japan were house and techno timing at around 120 to 130 BPM, and drum'n'bass, at around 170–175 BPM, so at first dancing crowds in Japan were confused and deemed footwork as "too fast" for their palate. However, with time they have built tolerance to the DJ sounds of DJ Fulltono.[25] It took Japanese producers and listeners almost a decade to adapt to juke, but around 2018 the footwork scene of Japan was noted to be among the most vibrant electronic dance music scenes in the country, incorporating disparate additional influences into sound, such as vocaloids, otaku culture, Japanese rock,[24] reggae, funk, chiptune music and wonky music, thus innovating in the genre.[25]

Another notable influence on the formation of Japanese footwork/juke scene was Japanese ghettotech scene, movement led by DJ April and DJ Go, among others. DJ Fulltono, apart from being footwork pioneer in Japan, was (and continues to be) an important DJ in Japanese ghettotech scene as well, around the time he started popularizing footwork in Japan.[24]

The first Japanese juke label, called Booty Tune was set up by DJ Fulltono in 2008, initially to release his own tracks, but gradually became an imprint under which other domestic juke artists started to release their tracks.[25] After that, more Japanese footwork labels appeared, namely Japanese Mutation Bootyism (which released important Japanese Juke and Footworks Compilation), Kool Switch Works and Dubliminal Bounce (by Japanese footwork producer Skip Club Orchestra).[25]

The scene in Japan received support from Chicago scene on several occasions. Many founding fathers of juke toured Japan, many of the events were as well organized by DJ Fulltono.[25] Most Japanese footwork producers who were interviewed by Bandcamp named footwork producer Traxman from Chicago and Bangs and Works as their primary sources of inspiration. In return, Traxman released a full album of remixes of his tracks, where remixes were made exclusively by Japanese producers.[25]

In 2018, THUMP released a video documentary on Japanese juke and footwork scene.

The genre also sparked interest in footwork dancing and that gave birth to Battle Train Tokyo footwork dancing competition held in Tokyo. It has even been suggested that around that time the number of footwork dancers in Japan was increasing faster than the number of actual Japanese footwork producers.[25]

Plenty of experimentation happened in the Japanese juke scene over the years. For instance, some of the releases in Omoide label catalogue kickstarted the so-called vocaloid juke by combining footwork music with vocaloids. Other producers incorporated influence from wonky music.[25]

Another homegrown subgenre of juke in Japan is party-juke, which is a fusion of hip hop rapping over footwork backing tracks. Originally, in Chicago, producers mostly eschewed rappers, using vocal sample chops instead, but in Japan party-juke became its own subculture with wider footwork/juke subculture.[24] The subgenre of party-juke had its first moment with the release of 160or80 compilation in 2013, according to Japanese ghettotech and footwork veteran producer DJ April.[24]

The influence of Japanese rock on Japanese juke and vice versa was so pronounced, that well-known rock music nights in Tokyo called SHINJUKO ROCKS started hosting juke parties.[24]

Notable Japanese footwork artists include DJ Fulltono, Gnyonpix, who introduced gameboy music influence into juke, Paisley Parks production trio,[24] DJ Dike (along with his Oneday Recs. label), bringing influence of reggae and dancehall horn sections into footwork, Oyubi, CRZKNY, Boogie Mann, bringing influence of funk, boogie and acid house into footwork, KΣITO, PERCEPTION,[25] Haya6Go, DJ Aflow, Uncle Texx, Picnic Women,[24] Foodman,[13] and others.

Among other notable labels that release footwork/juke in Japan, stand Shinkaron label and Ghost label (run by Paisley Parks).[25]

Japanese juke scene was also politically outspoken on the topic of nuclear energy in Japan, particularly after the 2011 Tohoku tsunami disaster, taking opposing stance. The annual Atomic Bomb Compilation of juke music, released by Hiroshima footwork producer CRZKNY[26] (with the idea originating from another footwork producer from Japan, Gnyonpix) protests both nuclear warfare proliferation and nuclear energy proliferation. At first, the compilation only included Japanese producers, alluding mainly to Fukushima disaster and bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but as time went on, it started including juke producers from around the world, for instance from Mexico, Poland and from the United States.[25]

Japanese juke scene is also noted to serve as a refuge from the relatively strict corporate culture in Japan, with many producers coming from middle-class working white-collar jobs by day and thus it would be nearly to impossible for them to communicate with each other, having different positions in social hierarchy, if not for footwork, which has liberalizing effect on those who participate in the scene.[24]

Around the second half of the 2010s, juke brought attention in Latin America and Brazil. In 2017, Mexico-based JukeMX footwork producer collective, consisting of producers Eric Uh, Sonido Berzerk, Ma Fuego, Spacetrilla and others, released Traxmex compilation series, showcasing local improvements of the original genre, like, introducing Latin percussion and samples from baile funk into footwork.[27] Another noted footwork producer collective is Ten Toes Turbo.[14]

In Brazil, producer Cesrv, founder of local Beatwise Recordings label, included juke tracks into South release.[14]

In the southern part of South America, Argentinian footwork label ABBYSS brought attention by releasing Foodworks series of compilations, consisting of local footwork tracks, since 2015. In Chile around that time, the MakinMovs netlabel was releasing juke compilations, which also included tracks by footwork producers from Mexico, Argentina and Peru.[14]

In Peru, a local Matraca netlabel released Lima Footwork compilation in 2017, consisting of tracks of Matraca resident producers, such as Dr.100, Rashid from Lima, Lukrø, and others.[14] Later, in 2019, Lukrø collaborated with New York City-based juke producer Regent Street, to produce a glitch and reggaeton inspired track called Fire.[28]