More ghetto house heat from the vaults of Dance Mania! Strut returns to Chicago to follow up their acclaimed Dance Mania label retrospective Hardcore Traxx from early 2014. This time around they get extra raw and dirty, turning their focus to the stripped down jams from the mid 90s rise of ghetto house. The compilation features tracks from the era's stars including DJ Deeon, DJ Funk, Jammin' Gerald and DJ Milton. The tracks circulated on mix tapes as the DJs built up their own underground following. Their fan base grew as the bpms climbed and the lyrics got evermore X-rated. Suddenly it was OK for dudes to like house music again, while the DJs had no problem bringing the ladies to the dance floor. Dance Mania was elemental in bringing the sound to a wider audience. The Chicago label was perfectly positioned as many of the DJs came regularly into Ray Barney's record store and, as Chicago's most trusted and respected label owner, he was offered the best tracks for commercial release at an early stage. Ghetto Madness brings together some of the underground classics and enduring favorites that earned Dance Mania the title of "Ghetto House's Motown." Tracks include DJ Deeon's party-starter "The Freaks," raw DJ Funk cut "Computer Sex" and Nina Kraviz favorite, Paul Johnson's "Give Me Ecstacy." Other featured gems from the archive include the dark early Steve Poindexter outing "Computer Madness" and Tyree's in-demand jam, "Nuthin' Wrong."

• music label: Strut 2015

reviewed by Joey Coco 02/2015