DJ G. Wiz opened a recent set on community radio station KDHX on a relatively somber note. He dedicated the show to his friend Troy Major, a dancer who died in August. Major was known for pop-locking, a complicated breakdancing technique instrumental to hip-hop dancing.
The style was created by Don Campbell, a St. Louis dancer whose moves shaped hip-hop and funk dancing and became an essential component of breakdancing. Wiz explains the history with excitement and reverence, describing Campbell’s contributions and those of Fred Berry, the St. Louis dancer and actor who played Rerun on the TV show, “What’s Happening.”
“No one can tell the complete story, I just know what I know and what I witnessed,” Wiz said. “Everybody else can do the same and hopefully everybody's stories match up.”
As DJ G. Wiz, Ron Butts has been one of the most respected hip-hop historians in St. Louis. He's showcased the genre through documentaries and video mixes, keeping the music fresh for generations of fans. On Saturday, Wiz will use that history to honor 50 years of hip-hop by curating a tribute at the third annual Music at the Intersection festival.
Wiz selected a handful of local DJs who will mix and play sounds from local and national artists between artist performances. He said the DJ sets will provide a soundtrack for the festival and honor the music that has shaped culture over the past 50 years.
“I want people to realize that St. Louis had a huge voice to play in this thing called hip-hop way before the '90s or 2000,” Wiz said. “The roots of it is what I think is important and is not recognized or even spoken of in so many circles.”
St. Louis’ hip-hop roots will be front and center at the festival with an 1980s hip-hop set by DJ LadyJock, daughter of East St. Louis DJ and trailblazer Dr. Jockenstein, who hosted the “Roll Call” show on East St. Louis station WESL. The festival also will honor radio legends Edie Bee Anderson and Gentleman Jim Gates, who brought hip-hop to the mainstream when they first played Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper’s Delight" on East St. Louis radio station WESL in 1979.
“That was the explosion, the match that lit the bomb for rap music in St. Louis,” Wiz said. “I'm going to say, probably 99% of the people in the U.S. don't even know that story right there.”
This weekend, local DJs will spin songs from all eras and regions representing the past 50 years. But for those looking forward to hearing local music, Wiz has a set from DJ Kut, who will spin songs that have provided a soundtrack for the region.
Wiz said there’s a lot of St. Louis hip-hop history listeners need to know, like rappers Sylk Smoov, JCD and the Dawg LB, Penelope Jones and Ebony Eyez, who paved the way for other hip-hop artists in the region.
“I really wanted to get the Chingys and Penelopes and the Sylk Smoovs, all these cats and kittens, together and do that thing live,” Wiz said. "That was my whole vision right there, to pull something off like that in this city would have been talked about for ages.”
Since the festival began in 2021, the Music at the Intersection festival has featured local DJs, with sets from DJ Nico Marie, Biko and Agile One.
This year’s tribute is an extension of the festival’s celebration of DJ talents, said Chris Hansen, executive director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, which is organizing the festival.
“Our DJs are second to none, world class,” Hansen said. “That particular art form, we punch really high on the global scale, and the world knows it.”
The DJ sets on the festival main stage will include visual elements with videos and images playing on screen while DJs are performing, with many of the videos edited by Wiz.
Wiz also said he wanted to capture a diverse range of talents and age groups, including other DJs — like Kawaii Brown who spins as DJ she Beatz and will play records from 1999 and the 2000s for the festival.
St. Louis artists and DJs have historically been overlooked and this tribute helps shine a spotlight on the region’s talents, she said.
“I feel like it's the only beginning of showcasing St. Louis in the way that it should have been showcased a while ago,” Beatz said.
Wiz wants the sets to be a celebration of the past, present and future of hip-hop with music from St. Louis and national artists. He wants festival goers to have the same attitude Troy Major had when he would dance and light up a party, whether they’re listening to his set or another’s.
“I'm hoping that they can walk away where they felt like they just walked out of 80s 90s party and they’re the last person to leave and it’s six in the morning and they’re going to White Castle like they used to do.”
