Within each of the many strands of dance music, there are people who believe in spreading the word and making the scene – or should that be their part of it? – as big as it can be. And then there are others who are more, shall we say, territorial on how they see such matters.
Carl Craig, 52, from Detroit fits very much into the latter category. Now, contrary to what some of you might think, those of us at Ears To The House quite like Craig. We think he’s made much in the way of brilliant and innovative music over the years and has made a sizeable contribution to the scene – but we also believe this doesn’t mean he gets a lifetime pass from scrutiny.
When this site started writing about Derrick May last year, it soon got the attention of Craig, who claimed in an Instagram post on May 5th that “people who ain’t from Detroit need to stay out of Detroit business”. Strong words indeed – the inference clearly being that those of us speaking out about May and Detroit more widely should keep quiet.
Of course, some DJs in Detroit are quite purist about their own scene. They believe Detroit techno must be made within Detroit city limits – and in times gone by, many of those records were pressed in Detroit, with artwork coming from Detroit along with everything else. It seems just about the only thing which they weren’t purist about was the location of their customers.
Heaven only knows what those purists must now make of Craig’s latest move. As reported back in January, the man himself has now started a masterclass all about music production – then selling for €64, and now back up to €80. The course is now being hyped as an opportunity to “learn the real Detroit techno sound” – even Craig himself is running ads like this on Instagram…
Isn’t it curious how people can do a complete volte-face when money is involved?
