RA Podcast

"You can't take a sound and exclude the people who created it and say, this is our sound," DJ Noir said in our 2020 feature about Juke Bounce Werk, the label she-cofounded. "No, it's either Chicago footwork or it's other." Back then, the Los Angeles-based imprint and crew was still primarily focused around footwork, but Noir and co—including artists like Kush Jones, DJ SWISHA, Surly and Sonic D—have branched out into all sorts of uptempo sounds, touching on house, UK garage, jungle and funk, but always with the fleet-footed approach that makes JBW what it is. "We used to sit down and say, we have to make 160, or we have to keep it footwork and juke," Jones said in that same feature, "but we are also like, if you are strong and developed in another sound, then you should also be free." Sitting atop this empire of boundary-breaking, innovative dance music is DJ Noir, who is one of LA's best uptempo DJs, or honestly, of any genre. Her sets can be speedy and intense, sure, but it's the way she lets off steam a