INFO:

it’s a saturday night, and I am lying on the couch watching a Hallmark movie about a white woman who is a baker and an amateur sleuth who solves murders. DON’T JUDGE ME! But if this were 1994, I=i would be ironing my clothes dry after having to wash them by hand in the tub and getting ready to head to a house party somewhere in north philly. ya know, every once in a while i remember that i would show up and dance in a strangers living room. of course, i oftentimes found myself running out of that same house because some knucklehead pulled out a gun and started shooting. my gawd, the 90s were an entirely different universe. what attracted me and my best friend robert to these house parties was the music the DJs spun. you legit could hear a house song, followed by a hip-hop song, then a freestyle song and then a reggaeu002Fdancehall song. it was a kaleidoscope of sound. in 1994, reggaeu002Fdancehall music could be heard at radio stations that were dominated by pop artists like madonna, mariah, janet and whitney. songs like “mr. loverman” by shabba ranks, “action” by terror fabulous featuring nadine sutherland, “murder she wrote” by chaka demus & pliers and of course, “worker man” by patra. the success of these songs coupled with the expansive market of girl groups, softened the group for worl-a-girl. signed to chaos records, a subsidiary of columbia records, worl-a-girl merged danceu002Fhall and hip-hop with their 1994 single “no gunshot (put down the gun).” the song was a compelling single that called for the end of gun violence over a danceable rhythm and tight harmonies. “no gunshot” garnered radio airplay and led to the release of their self-titled debut album later in 1994.