{
  "slug": "the-desk-one-subject",
  "theme": null,
  "genre": null,
  "genreUrl": null,
  "brief": "Six records from Detroit, Lagos and Accra, offered as one subject rather than three genres. The distance between them is geographic and almost nothing else.",
  "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-one-subject/",
  "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": 6,
  "years": {
    "first": 1970,
    "last": 1977
  },
  "picks": [
    {
      "trackKey": "marvin-gaye--whats-going-on",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/marvin-gaye--whats-going-on/",
      "title": "What's Going On",
      "artist": "Marvin Gaye",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/marvin-gaye/",
      "year": 1971,
      "label": "Tamla",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The obvious one, and four decades of broadcasting have made it harder to hear rather than easier. A record everybody agrees about is a difficult thing to keep alive.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "soul",
          "name": "Soul",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/"
        },
        {
          "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/Marvin%20Gaye%20What's%20Going%20On",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KDK7TiEiMOI",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "curtis-mayfield--move-on-up",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/curtis-mayfield--move-on-up/",
      "title": "Move On Up",
      "artist": "Curtis Mayfield",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/curtis-mayfield/",
      "year": 1970,
      "label": "Curtom",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Nine minutes of forward motion that works on a dancefloor and on daytime radio, which is a rare combination — and it is the long version that earns the claim, not the edit.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "soul",
          "name": "Soul",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/soul/"
        },
        {
          "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/Curtis%20Mayfield%20Move%20On%20Up",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=A9RMr9KuVZo",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "fela-ransome-kuti-and-africa-70--shakara",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/fela-ransome-kuti-and-africa-70--shakara/",
      "title": "Shakara",
      "artist": "Fela Ransome-Kuti & Africa 70",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/fela-ransome-kuti-and-africa-70/",
      "year": 1972,
      "label": "EMI",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Fifteen minutes before the vocal arrives. Programming a record like this for an audience trained to expect a hook inside thirty seconds is the whole problem, and it is worth solving.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "afrobeat",
          "name": "Afrobeat",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Fela%20Ransome-Kuti%20%26%20Africa%2070%20Shakara",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=P2l7EPy1Svs",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "manu-dibango--soul-makossa",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/manu-dibango--soul-makossa/",
      "title": "Soul Makossa",
      "artist": "Manu Dibango",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/manu-dibango/",
      "year": 1972,
      "label": "Fiesta",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "A Cameroonian B-side that a New York DJ turned into a disco hit. The clearest single case for the argument this list is making: the route mattered more than the origin.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "afrobeat",
          "name": "Afrobeat",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Manu%20Dibango%20Soul%20Makossa",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=PblSmVR7hCk",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "ebo-taylor--heaven",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/ebo-taylor--heaven/",
      "title": "Heaven",
      "artist": "Ebo Taylor",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/ebo-taylor/",
      "year": 1977,
      "label": null,
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "Ghana rather than Nigeria, and looser than anything Lagos allowed. Much of what reached Britain as afrobeat was highlife that nobody had bothered to distinguish.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "afrobeat",
          "name": "Afrobeat",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/afrobeat/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Ebo%20Taylor%20Heaven",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=z54HkbHg8Ec",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "trackKey": "herbie-hancock--chameleon",
      "trackUrl": "https://waxonia.com/track/herbie-hancock--chameleon/",
      "title": "Chameleon",
      "artist": "Herbie Hancock",
      "artistUrl": "https://waxonia.com/artist/herbie-hancock/",
      "year": 1973,
      "label": "Columbia",
      "isrc": null,
      "whyItMatters": "The record where a jazz musician of the first rank decides the groove is the interesting problem. If acid jazz began as a joke, this is the thing the joke was about.",
      "alsoOn": [
        {
          "kind": "genre",
          "slug": "funk",
          "name": "Funk",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "the-desk-the-accent-moved",
          "name": "The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/"
        },
        {
          "kind": "curator",
          "slug": "twice-over",
          "name": "Twice Over",
          "url": "https://waxonia.com/theme/twice-over/"
        }
      ],
      "links": {
        "spotify": {
          "url": "https://open.spotify.com/search/Herbie%20Hancock%20Chameleon",
          "exact": false
        },
        "youtubeMusic": {
          "url": "https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=iqomTAiRnVM",
          "exact": true
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}