It seems to be one of those weeks where I write about something at the beginning and it develops later. On Tuesday afternoon, I published a piece about Defected suddenly getting behind the city of Detroit – not previously a place the marketing machine at the label has mentioned much.

What wasn’t so clear at the time was why exactly Defected was suddenly so keen on Detroit. I can now reveal the answer, and sadly, it appears to be nothing more than a marketing ploy. You see, the label currently has a release out by Dames Brown, Andrés and Amp Fiddler called “What Would You Do”.

Pretty much everyone involved in the making of the record is from Detroit. Suddenly, the promotion of the “sound” of Detroit makes sense. It helps increase streams and downloads if there’s a story behind a song. And to many, one mention of Detroit brings about the Belleville Three myth. It’s clever advertising by Defected, if not rather cynical.

Here’s just one example of this…

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWbPiCTIdxv/?utm_medium=copy_link

However, there is one member of the so-called Belleville Three who Defected haven’t mentioned whilst promoting this – and that is, of course, Derrick May. This despite the fact the label recently uploaded a video of “Strings Of Life” being played at a party. And although it was their own label’s Soul Central version being played, May would be getting paid. Why? Because he’s listed as a writer at the least.

As for the theory that Defected’s support for Detroit is genuine, as apparently evidenced by booking the city’s rising star (and sadly Derrick May stooge) Ash Lauryn? I’ll believe it when I see it…