I was fortunate enough to take EDM history back in college and what I learned is something that I want to share with the EDM community. This is The Belleville Three, who not only birthed techno out of Detroit but are a primary reason of why EDM is even a genre.

Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. These three individuals defined a genre and a sound that is actually more popular today than ever, yet nobody knows about them.

They laid a foundation for the producers you see today AND they are one of MANY case studies of why EDM is black music. Frankie Chuckles is another example.

Frankie Chuckles was black (and gay) and was crowned as the king of house music stemming from the 1980’s Chicago warehouse era.

“House was born on Chicago’s South Side (of New York roots), and techno was created in Detroit, two versions of futurist electronic music first made in the 1980s by Black and Hispanic people, for Black and Hispanic people” (Afropunk).