{
  "slug": "the-desk-footwork-travels",
  "theme": null,
  "genre": "Juke and Footwork",
  "genreUrl": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/",
  "brief": "Five records tracing how Chicago's footwork reached a listening audience that had never seen the dancing — mostly through a British label that spent a decade putting it in front of everybody else.",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-footwork-travels/",
  "updated": "2026-08-29",
  "curator": {
    "slug": "the-desk",
    "name": "The Waxonia Desk",
    "bio": "The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers.",
    "link": "https://waxonia.com/",
    "url": "https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/"
  },
  "ordered": false,
  "pickCount": 5,
  "years": {
    "first": 1997,
    "last": 2013
  },
  "picks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "dj-nate--hatas-our-motivation",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dj-nate--hatas-our-motivation/",
      "title": "Hatas Our Motivation",
      "artist": "DJ Nate",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-nate/",
      "year": 2010,
      "label": "Planet Mu",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The first footwork signing a foreign label made, found by following YouTube uploads back to a contact address. The distance between hearing this music and being able to release it was the whole problem.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "juke-and-footwork",
          "name": "Juke and Footwork",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Nate%20Hatas%20Our%20Motivation",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hMWOlHaDs-I",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "rp-boo--baby-come-on",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/rp-boo--baby-come-on/",
      "title": "Baby Come On",
      "artist": "RP Boo",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/rp-boo/",
      "year": 1997,
      "label": "Dance Mania",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The record usually named as the first of its kind, thirteen years older than the compilations that made the genre legible abroad. A scene is always much older than its export edition.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "juke-and-footwork",
          "name": "Juke and Footwork",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-160",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — 160",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-160/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/RP%20Boo%20Baby%20Come%20On",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=L17sHYmwTWY",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "traxman--footworkin-on-air",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/traxman--footworkin-on-air/",
      "title": "Footworkin on Air",
      "artist": "Traxman",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/traxman/",
      "year": 2012,
      "label": "Planet Mu",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The crate-digger's answer to the accusation that footwork is only rhythm. This is the record you put on for somebody who has decided the genre has no melody in it.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "juke-and-footwork",
          "name": "Juke and Footwork",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Traxman%20Footworkin%20on%20Air",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=LnunCPpdNzQ",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "dj-rashad--feelin",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/dj-rashad--feelin/",
      "title": "Feelin",
      "artist": "DJ Rashad",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/dj-rashad/",
      "year": 2013,
      "label": "Hyperdub",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The one that went furthest, and it went out on somebody else's label. Opening a door and then watching other people walk through it is the standard fate of a scene's first champion.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "juke-and-footwork",
          "name": "Juke and Footwork",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-160",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — 160",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-160/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-ghosts",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-hundred",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/DJ%20Rashad%20Feelin",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MC5zj4eLM3k",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "jlin--erotic-heat",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/jlin--erotic-heat/",
      "title": "Erotic Heat",
      "artist": "Jlin",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/jlin/",
      "year": 2011,
      "label": "Planet Mu",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Footwork with the samples taken out and the battle taken out, by somebody who never made tracks for dancers. Whether it is still footwork is a fair question, and the answer is probably no.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "juke-and-footwork",
          "name": "Juke and Footwork",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/juke-and-footwork/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Jlin%20Erotic%20Heat",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/search?q=Jlin%20Erotic%20Heat",
          "exact": false
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}