American Grime presents: GARAGE ft. Kozee

It’s summer 1978. You’re venturing through New York City with friends on a vibrant night filled with LGBTQ+ music festivities. Scuffling between secret queer-friendly safe spaces, your posse passes 84 King Street, intrigued by an electronic event emitting funk-infused vocals paired with soulful R&B sounds. The name of this legendary venue that birthed the name of an iconic genre: Paradise Garage. (And it was, literally, a garage).

“I want people to know and appreciate that garage music was cultivated within LGBTQ+ communities,” says Marina Francesca aka Kozee, the producer featured in this week’s American Grime (AG) Presents: Garage guest-mix. Her episode marks the fifth of the six installments in AG’s six-week podcast series amplifying the historical significance and ongoing evolution of garage.

As early as the late ‘70s and well into the ‘80s, U.S.– and European–based artists laid the groundwork for the likes of early ‘90s UK garage. Many of these pioneers were Black and/or LGBTQ+, drawing from the diverse array of musical influences and lived experiences that shape Black and queer cultures. Through her garage mix, Kozee aims to honor the genre’s bold and daring ancestors, many of whom faced multiple forms of marginalization.

Kozee’s mix is timely amidst the U.S.’s recent – and long overdue – awakening to the stark realities of systemic racism and queerphobia embedded in Western society and beyond. Her 30-minute journey emerges as a meditation on what it means to credit and celebrate Black and LGBTQ+ cultures for creating and sustaining electronic music scenes.

“I’m inspired by artists like EL-B, Para, Duncan Powell, Champion, Conducta, Exit 99, Smokey Bubblin B, Rip Groove, Karl Tuff Enuff, and Todd Edwards,” shares Kozee, a stateside producer and disc jockey actively involved with event promotion. “These dons represent newer and older garage eras. Their craft is truly amazing.”

In Kozee’s episode and throughout AG’s mini-series, listeners explore six unique guestmixes carefully curated by an outstanding ensemble of modern-day garage artists.

“Garage matters because it’s a form of electronic music specifically designed to represent happiness and joy,” says Kozee, who steadfastly challenges the status quos of a male-dominated music industry. “I hope my mix will uplift someone’s spirit.”

This article was originally published through Background Noise.