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Remembering house music legend DJ Deeon, dead at 56

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

In the last year, appreciation for house music has seen a bit of a renaissance.

ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:

That's a Beyonce reference. I got it. And it's true. The genre emerged in Chicago, and we're going to take a moment to remember one of the city's legends in house music, DJ Deeon.

(SOUNDBITE OF DJ DEEON SONG, "FREAK LIKE ME")

CHANG: That is DJ Deeon's 1996 hit, "Freak Like Me."

DJ SCRAP DIRTY: DJ Deeon was one of the architects - what we call the godfather of ghetto house.

CHANG: And that, my friends, is DJ Scrap Dirty, a fellow Chicago native who talked to us about Deeon's bass-heavy, sexually liberated sounds.

DJ SCRAP DIRTY: Ghetto house actually was like the child that nobody wanted to speak about because it was birthed in the underground - in the basement parties.

FLORIDO: It made waves around the world. DJ Deeon was even name-checked in Daft Punk's 1997 track "Teachers," which lists some of the French duo's influences.

CHANG: News of Deeon's death was posted on his Facebook page yesterday. DJ Deeon Boyd was 56 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FREAK LIKE ME")

DJ DEEON: (Singing) You need a freak like me to make love to your body. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Megan Lim
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Ashley Brown is a senior editor for All Things Considered.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.