I love learning about new things. They help me to expand my knowledge as well as perspective on various topics. Prior to reading "The Beat, The Scene, The Sound: A DJ’s Journey Through the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of House Music in New York City" by DJ Disciple and Henry Kronk, I knew little about the genre in question. But after looking through that particular autobiography/historical account of house music in New York City (NYC), I have a better understanding of house music even if it’s mainly for the diehards.

"The Beat, The Scene, The Sound: A DJ’s Journey Through the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of House Music in New York City" details the behind the scenes world of house music in the largest city of the United States. It follows DJ Disciple and his account on how various DJs, promoters, fans, and others transformed the genre from a DIY project to an international sensation in the 1980s and 1990s. When house music first became prominent in the former decade, many clubs like Paradise Garage and Studio 54 brought people together. However, in the latter, when DJ Disciple was establishing himself, he saw things shatter. The crack-cocaine epidemic, HIV/AIDS, homophobia, and mayors shutting down clubs all pushed the scene into the underground as well as abroad to the UK and the rest of Europe. Disciple and other DJs wanted to regain their standing in the United States, but that only became possible with the commercialization of electronic dance music (EDM) in the 2010s. The book shows what’s possible when people are brought together and what can unravel if they are split apart.

As I mentioned earlier, my knowledge of house music prior to reading this book is limited. I knew about Ru Paul and his utilization of house music in the 1990s, Daft Punk, David Guetta, Avicii, and the mere coincidence that both Drake and Beyonce would release albums in that style in the summer of 2022. Disciple name drops a lot of DJs that I didn’t know of throughout, but I immediately got the sense how much he respects and cherishes them as mentors, collaborators, and friends. He and Kronk provide mini-biographies of these people, so readers know who they are. They are cleverly inserted into the story when Disciple has his first encounters with them. It makes me want to check out their music as well as more of Disciple’s (side note: “Keep on Moving” by him and the Banji Boys is a banger!).

The story is framed around the life of David Banks, how he became DJ Disciple, and how he navigated through the world of house music (in third person weirdly enough). I enjoyed learning about him and his family. He grew up in a musical and religious one. In fact, many of his brothers became successful in their own ways. His oldest brother Sherman was an “organizer and civil rights leader” (p.28).

His next sibling Stanley played bass for several artists like Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and George Benson. His other brother Larry formed a band called Subculture 9, had a solo record deal with Uptown Records (the same place where Sean “Diddy” Combs got his start at), and now writes original music for the Walter Johnson Choir at the Church of the Open Door (p. 28-30).

DJ Disciple was a follower of Christ, hence his name. He even got his start hosting a gospel radio show The DJ Disciple Show on Baruch College’s WBMB station in NYC. Throughout the book, he discusses he struggled to maintain his faith while keeping up with the demands associated with his job. For example, he felt like he strayed from his faith after surviving a fire on a plane. Specifically, he claimed, “I wasn’t making choices with my higher self in mind. Instead, I was responding to immediate, selfish wants” (p. 142).

The push to become a better DJ led Disciple to never turning down an offer, which took its toll.

I wanted to know more about Disciple since he has a way of sucking readers into his story. One of my favorite parts was reading how he evolved his craft by listening instinctively to what the audiences want. But, once the book began discussing the evolution of house music in NYC, the former gets put on the back burner. Occasionally, people will get insight on how he felt about certain events like how mayor Rudy Guilliani was shutting down clubs due to the amount of drugs present in them in the 1990s. However, Disciple mainly lists the clubs and locations that he performed at without giving so much as to their importance. It’s not the first time that I’ve encountered a flaw like that in an autobiography. As much as I love Eric Idle’s book "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography," even he tends to list his accomplishments in the second half that it felt like I was reading his Wikipedia page on actual print. Going back to DJ Disciple, I’m sure that readers who love house music and follow its history extensively will be more familiar with the clubs and other locations that he’s been at than me.

Despite my criticism of the book, the biggest strength is the amount of research done about house music in NYC. No stone is left unturned as Kronk and Disciple dive deep into the factors that contributed to house music’s evolution like the environments, racism, homophobia, and even sexism (as most DJs were and still are men). They use newspaper clippings, books, and statistics to explain the overall context of what Disciple and other people who were a part of the scene were going through. There are also endnotes, a select biography at the end of the book in case anyone is interested in looking at those sources themselves, and plenty of photographs that grace the end of each chapter. The primary resources are the party flyers and the interviews that the authors conducted with the people who witnessed the transformation of house music. These people consisted of DJs, agents, promoters, dancers, managers, and anyone who happened to be on the scene like Disciple’s brothers. These were done between 2008 and 2022, which demonstrates the devotion that both authors had for the subject. I bet that this is the reason why this book is being published through Rowman & Littlefield – a publishing company best known for academic titles.

All in all, even though "The Beat, The Scene, The Sound: A DJ’s Journey Through the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of House Music in New York City" by DJ Disciple and Henry Kronk is not perfect, it helped me to comprehend the evolution of house music in NYC. DJ Disciple is a great storyteller, and it wanted me to know more about him and how he felt about certain things. In addition, Disciple and Kronk do an excellent job of researching in order to paint the house music scene with broad and detailed strokes. I only wish that both aspects were blended together more. This is definitely a book for diehard house music fans, yet I would recommend it for those who are interested in the genre and have already read other sources about the subject. I’m glad I got my hands on this book, for it helped me appreciate house music more. The book will be out on Thursday, June 15, so order it soon and keep on moving!