Decades before Will Smith immortalised his hometown in the opening bars of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the sound of Philadelphia has helped to shape the sonic landscape of global pop culture. Half a century ago, the iconic dance/music television show Soul Train kicked off its 35-year run, which feature MFSB’s“T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia)” as its theme song. “People all over the world, let’s get it on, it’s time to get down,” The Three Degrees crooned over a disco-inflected beat, letting folks know it was time to get up off the sofa and move your feet.
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Over the next decade Philly Soul, as it was popularly known, would redefine R&B, disco, and funk as luminaries like the O’Jays, Teddy Pendergrass, and Patti LaBelle released classic records that would soon become the backbone of the newly emerging art form known as hip hop. By the time the 90s came around, the 70s was back in vogue as Gen Xers reveled in the sweet nostalgia of youth, bringing back bellbottoms, platform shoes, and “Lady Marmalade” with equal aplomb.
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At the same time, a new generation of millennials were creating memories of their very own, absorbing the smells, textures, colours, and sounds of 90s culture into the foundation of their very selves. “One’s period is when one is very young,” fashion doyenne Diana Vreeland sagely observed in her 1984 memoir D.V., going on to note how each period casts a long shadow in its wake. Shaped by the people, places, and times in which we live, our aesthetic sensibilities often reflect the profound impressions were received as youth.
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“For me, the 90s in Philadelphia felt very much a Chocolate City,” says African-American musician and artist DonChristian Jones, who will present Volvo Truck, on June 17 and 18 as part of The Shed’s Open Call commission series in New York. A love letter to his mother and four aunts who raised him, the original hour-long album and immersive sculptural installation brings together Jones’ genre blending gifts that situate hip hop firmly within the canon of fine art.
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