In the late 70’s, as disco music was on its way out, a nightclub on Chicago’s South Side helped usher in an entirely new sound for dance music. This became what we now know as house music, named after the very club where it spawned, The Warehouse. 

Disco died almost overnight with the rise of the “Death to Disco” movement, led by Steve Dahl, a DJ who had been fired from his station in Chicago after it switched to disco entirely. 

Over the decades since its founding, house music has weaved in and out of the pop charts. Acts like Daft Punk, the French duo formed in 1993, sought to revolutionize the genre, providing mainstream hits along the way, while a remix of Fatboy Slim’s 1998 hit “Praise You” reached number one on Billboard’s US Dance Club Songs in 2018.

House has always been intent on uplifting its listeners, which could give insight into the recent resurgence. Frankie Knuckles, Chicago house pioneer, once described The Warehouse club in Chicago as a “church for those who have fallen from grace.”

The genre’s influence has not let up. Massively popular artists, such as Drake and Beyonce, are aware of this, both releasing albums in 2022 that are rooted in house music entirely. 

At the same time, house has not lost touch with its roots in the underground scene. Creators like New York City based DJ, animator, and artist extraordinaire Dirty Bird (formerly known as GUM) have been at the forefront of the niche resurgence and interest in the culture that surrounds the genre. Dirty Bird has put out 15 projects since 2019. Flooding the scene with an impressive amount of music that proves very hard to ignore, he has grabbed the attention of publications like Pigeons & Planes.

What makes artists like Dirty Bird different from the rest is his penchant for pursuing wildly different sounding projects. He effortlessly fuses different aspects of garage music, jungle, and drum and bass, opening an incredibly large pool of ideas to pick from for the final product. His music serves as a lesson in the history and different subgenres of house music.

This respect and recognition of not only the genre’s musical roots but its roots in Black and LGBTQ+ communities are not exclusive to the niche scene, however. Beyonce’s newest album also samples from these very pioneers. Seeing new music being made that pays homage to a genre as diverse as house is promising, but to also have these global acts like Beyonce select samples that pull specifically from the early days of the genre indicates house’s widespread appeal.

This is to say that house music has never truly gone away–it will continue to be a mainstay genre for a large swath of listeners. Now, with a new scene full of artists who deeply care about the genre and fan bases that are growing each day, listeners still have a lot to look forward to.