Recent reevaluations of music history by modern scholars have helped debunk many misconceptions that were long accepted as fact.
Despite being an international art form, music was historically divided along racial lines—Latin music, Black music, and white music—largely due to systemic racism. Until the 2000s, this categorization shaped the way audiences and industries perceived musical genres.
One major example of this misattribution is grunge, a genre often associated with white men with long hair. However, modern historians have uncovered that its foundations were originally laid by Bam Bam, a band led by Tina Bell, a Black woman now recognized as the “Godmother of Grunge.” In 1984, Bam Bam pioneered the sounds that would later define the grunge movement.
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Similarly, techno and other electronic dance music (EDM) genres are rarely linked to Black artists, despite their origins. When people think of techno, Germany—particularly Berlin—often comes to mind. However, the genre was created by Black American musicians in Detroit. House, techno, and hip-hop share deep-rooted connections, evolving as a continuum rather than separate, opposing styles.
In the 1980s, two decades after gaining independence on June 30, 1960, many Congolese people migrated to Belgium, fleeing post-independence challenges. However, they faced racism and social exclusion, particularly in the Flemish regions, where Black communities were often marginalized. Despite these challenges, Congolese people, known for their rich musical heritage, continued to innovate and experiment with new sounds.
One pivotal moment in European electronic music history came with the rise of Technotronic, a project by Belgian producer Jo Bogaert. Although Germany dominated the electronic music scene, Belgium played a key role in introducing techno to Europe in the 1980s, with the rise of New Beat further fueling its popularity.
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Bogaert collaborated with Ya Kid K, a mixed-race Belgian-Congolese rapper born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). Having also spent time in Chicago—where house and techno were flourishing—Ya Kid K brought firsthand experience of these movements into her music. The influence of traditional Congolese and Angolan rhythms, which share similarities with techno beats, also contributed to the sound of their work.
Together, they recorded the hit Pump Up The Jam, a track that would become a global sensation. However, Ya Kid K was initially uncredited, and Belgian-Congolese model Felly Kilingi was featured in the music video and on some album covers instead. It wasn’t until the release of Get Up (Before The Night Is Over) that Ya Kid K finally appeared in a Technotronic music video.
Pump Up The Jam was a breakthrough not only for dance music but also for Black visibility in Europe. The song brought a Belgian-Congolese artist into the mainstream, giving representation to a community that had long been marginalized. More importantly, it played a crucial role in shaping the Eurodance movement, which dominated the charts throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.
As hip-hop was emerging as a global force, Pump Up The Jam bridged multiple genres, reinforcing the lasting impact of Black innovation in electronic music.
