Music of Philadelphia

One of Philadelphia's first mainstream stars, Chubby Checker, in 2005

The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is home to a vibrant and well-documented musical heritage, stretching back to colonial times. Innovations in classical music, opera, R&B, jazz and soul have earned the music of Philadelphia national and international renown. Philadelphia's musical institutions have long played an important role in the music of Pennsylvania, as well as a nationwide impact, especially in the early development of hip hop music. Philadelphia's diverse population has also given it a reputation for styles ranging from dancehall to Irish traditional music, as well as a thriving classical and folk music scene.

Philadelphia's musical heritage has been described by music author Richie Unterberger, as "not nearly as (influential) in American popular music as its size might indicate", which Unterberger attributes to a "[musical] shadow thrown by New York", which is not far north of Philadelphia. Nevertheless, Unterberger notes that Philadelphia has "played an important part in the history of rock and roll by being home to one of the most dependable audiences on the planet, rather than as an incubator of major performers". Unterberger also noted Philadelphia's role as a home to major radio personalities and DJs, as well as a major popular music field, Philadelphia soul . However, Philadelphia has also been described as a city that "lives and breathes music" with a "creative, artistic and fresh" vibe

Music venues and festivals

Kimmel Center at night

Philadelphia's major music venues include the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Painted Bride Art Center, which promotes alternative and avant garde music, and the Tower Theater, a destination for many top touring acts. The International House Folklife Center hosts traditional music from around the world at the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. The Mann Center for the Performing Arts is one of the largest outdoor amphitheatres in the United States, and is a touring stop for major artists, as well as a summer performance space for the Philadelphia Orchestra . The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a major music venue, opened in 1971; the Center now includes the University of Pennsylvania's Irvine Auditorium, Zellerbach Theatre and Harold Prince Theatre . The Curtis Institute for Music, founded in 1924, is an important establishment of music education in Philadelphia, and has been home to artists ranging from Samuel Barber and Leonard Bernstein to Rudolf Serkin and Hilary Hahn; the Institute also runs an opera theatre and symphony orchestra .

Philadelphia's ethnic minorities have established several organizations that promote their musical styles, including the Asian Arts Initiative and the Latin American Musicians Association (AMLA). The AMLA is also an important institution, established by Jesse Bermudez in 1982 in North Philadelphia, to promote Latino music and musicians. The Association runs a Latin School of Arts, which features teachers like Elio Villafranca, Orlanda Fiol and Pablo Batista .

Major music festivals in Philadelphia include the Peco Energy Jazz Festival in February, the summer Concerts Under the Stars, the Bach Festival (since 1976) and the long-standing and historical Philadelphia Folk Festival . The Philadelphia Céilí Group is a prominent local organization that promotes Irish music, and runs a festival, which the Group claims is among the oldest continuous Irish traditional festivals in the United States . Perhaps the most famous music festival in Philadelphia is the Mummers parade, a New Year's Day celebration that features outrageous costumes, old-time string bands and other entertainment. The tradition dates to the mid-17th century, when Finnish and Swedish settlers in Philadelphia celebrated holidays by shooting muskets. Their parade grew more diverse over the years, and the Mummers tradition became official in 1901, and has occurred every year but two since. The Mummers' string band is a large group of several dozen musicians who play banjos, violins, bass viols, glockenspiels, bells, accordions, saxophones and drums in an "old-fashioned, tinny sound approximating the popular music of 1900 and earlier".

• Note: Gee, hasn't anyone noticed that there is not one single white performer out of Philadelphia mentioned here from 1960 through 2006? How can you possibly consider this article accurate? This is precisely what I criciticise Wikipedia for, inaccurate and missing information. Then, to label Philadelphia Music as "unimportant" is the greatest insult to this city that there is! Did all of the white musicians die in Philadelphia at the same time, never to sire another, in Philadelphia in 1960? I won't even go into the inaccuracies about the Mummer's Parade. This place needs a team of college educated historians that actually have the documents that cover this subject.

Music institutions

Philadelphia is home to several music institutions of historical importance. The Academy of Music is an important organization, dating back to 1857; the Academy operates the oldest grand opera house still used for the original purpose, and calls itself a "current focus" of Philadelphia's musical life. The Academy hosts performances by many local groups, including the Philly Pops, the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Opera Company of Philadelphia . The Philadelphia Orchestra is a major performer of classical music, touring worldwide and releasing best-selling recordings; the Orchestra has been performing since 1900 . The Mendelssohn Club is a choral group that dates back to the 19th century, and was founded by William Gilchrist, one of the major figures of 19th century music in the city . The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra is one of the most renowned children's groups, having performed worldwide since forming in 1939 .

Philadelphia is home to a well-established chamber music scene, dominated by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, established in 1986, which puts on concerts by internationally-renowned performers as well as local enembles like 1807 and Friends, who have been prominent local performers since 1981. There is also a Philadelphia Singers choir, a Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and a Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1991 .

Other local institutions include the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, founded in 1981 , and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, founded in 1964 . The Italian American Broadcasting Network is based out of Philadelphia and promotes radio stations that broadcast Italian music in southeastern Pennsylvania; the Philadelphia stations that play Italian music include WPHT, WEDO and WSSJ . The John W. Coltrane Cultural Society, which honors local jazz legend John Coltrane, helps to promote the local jazz scene. Philadelphia is also home to the Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, which has been called the "first-ever club designed and constructed specifically as a jazz institution". The city is also home to several major jazz festivals, such as June's Mellon Jazz Festival and the May First Union Jam.

Music history

The earliest music in the Philadelphia area was that of the indigenous peoples of the area, though little is known about their music. The city soon rose to prominence as a major cultural capital in the thirteen colonies of North American, and then in the fledgling United States. The city established a reputation for classical music, Roman Catholic liturgical music and other styles, which grew throughout the 19th century.

In the 20th century, Philadelphia's population grew steadily more diverse, with immigrants from Ireland, Italy and Jamaica constituting the most sizable groups. Philadelphia became a regional center for Italian music, and also produced a number of well-regarded Irish musicians and groups. The city's sizable Jamaican population brought their own styles of music, such as dancehall, which became a major part of the Philadelphia nightclub scene in the early 2000s .

Colonial era and late 18th century

Philadelphia became an important center for music in North America during the colonial era and late 18th century, when it was especially noted for classical composers like Alexander Reinagle, Rayner Taylor and Susannah Haswell Rowson. Reinagle became the most influential figure in Philadelphia's musical life, organizing a number of concerts, organizations and musical events, including the New Theatre with Thomas Wignell. Rowson wrote the librettos for two of Reinagle's compositions, and was a successful poet, guitarist, singer, playwright and actress. Taylor also worked with Reinagle at the New Theatre, and was said to be the finest organist in the North American colonies. Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a notable composer of the period. The prominent local figure Benjamin Franklin was also a musician, a guitar teacher and inventor of musical instruments like the glass harmonica .

Colonial Pennsylvania was home to a number of religious minority sects, several of which have played an important role in the musical development of the area. A number of German Pietists settled in the Philadelphia area in 1694, led by Johannes Kelpius. These Pietists lived along the banks of the Wissahickon Creek, and became known as the Hermits (or Mystics) of the Wissahickon. Kelpius was a hymn writer and musician. Kelpius has been said to be the composer of certain hymn tunes, though music historian Gilbert Chase doubts that he wrote the music, much of which, Chase claims, "is taken from readily identifiable German sources". These hymns were translated into English by Christopher Witt, a painter and musician said to have built the first private (i.e. non-church) organ in the colonies of North America .

Some of the earliest printing of sheet music came from Philadelphia, including an extant copy of Isaac Watts' Hymns and Spiritual Songs, printed in 1741 by Benjamin Franklin . Though Watts' Protestant hymnbook was a historically important document, the city of Philadelphia has long been a major center for Roman Catholic church music. The first Catholic hymnbook published in the United States came from Philadelphia in 1787, entitled Litanies and Vesper Hymns and Anthems as They Are Sung in the Catholic Church; this collection included music scored for treble and bass, with later editions adding a third vocal section, and used highly-ornamented plainchant themes in the Mass and hymns. The publisher Matthew Carey was particularly influential, publishing a catechism in 1794 that included hymns in later editions .

19th century

Philadelphia's Holy Trinity Church published the first German-American Catholic catechism in 1810, while the music director of St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Benjamin Carr, also published hymnbooks in the early 19th century. Carr's 1805 work introduced "O Sanctissima" and "Adeste Fideles" to American Catholics. The American Sodality movement began in Philadelphia in 1841, founded by Felix Barbelin; Barbelin personally prepared the first American Sodality Manual, which was followed by others throughout the later 19th century. The Catholic Church of Philadelphia established important institutions of musical education in the early 19th century, with the foundation a singing school and boys choir. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and the Sisters of the Holy Child published several collections of hymns, some of which were later included in St. Basil's Hymnal.

In the early 19th century, a Philadelphia composer named William Henry Fry was a prominent composer and music journalist, writing for the National Gazette . The city was becoming a national center for musical development in the mid-19th century, with local religious music changing considerably, and new styles becoming regionally popular, especially English opera. An important concert was held in Philadelphia in the mid-19th century, one of the first major concerts in the country led by a chorus, in this case from the College of Philadelphia . Philadelphia's Academy of Music was founded in 1857, and was followed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1900. One of the leading figures in Philadelphia's 19th century musical life was William Wallace Gilchrist, founder of the Mendelssohn Club and baritone soloist, organist and choirmaster with various institutions and churches. He also became a composer, known for his 1882 setting of Psalm 46 .

Philadelphia's African American musical heritage dates back to colonial times, and gained some national and international renown beginning with Frank Johnson, who composed marches and quadrilles that became very popular; he even performed for Queen Victoria in 1838. By the end of the century, African Americans in Philadelphia had their own musical institutions, including a symphony orchestra and choral societies .

The Philadelphia Roman Catholic musical tradition produced the celebrated and controversial composer Albert Rosewig, who "used romanticized harmony for Gregorian chants, and even harmonized the priest's altar chants" in an attempt to incorporate then-current styles of classical music. His innovations were eventually forbidden by Pius X. Afterwards, the Philadelphia-area conductor and composer led the United States in the development of a more traditional style in the 20th century.

20th century

in the 20th century, Philadelphia became an important part of American popular music, producing innovative performers in fields as varied as punk rock, soul and jazz. Philadelphia's jazz heritage is noteworthy, especially as the origin of John Coltrane, one of the most innovative performers of the 20th century. The Philly soul sound of the 1970s was also an especially important part of the national musical consciousness of its era. The city also has a distinguished history with local indie rock and punk. The 1980s saw a local New Wave scene, alongside hardcore punk bands like Sadistic Exploits. The 90s indie rock scene found greater national popularity through the bands Dead Milkmen and Zen Guerilla , while the city also produced an electronic music scene, known for acts like Dieselboy and Josh Wink.

Outside the realm of modern popular music, 21st century Philadelphia became home to the Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the "Big Five" orchestras in the United States, in 1900. The Orchestra was led by Fritz Schell until until taken over by Karl Pohlig in 1907; it was the conductor Leopold Stokowski, however, who made the Orchestra one of the most prominent in the country. Stokowski jointly held the conductor's post with Eugene Ormandy beginning in 1936, with Ormandy taking over completely in 1938.

Gospel

Philadelphia's gospel heritage stretches back to Charles Albert Tindley, a local reverend , who composed many important hymns. Tindley's "I Do, Don't You" inspired the composer Thomas A. Dorsey, who credited Tindley with the innovation of gospel music. Tindley composed most of his works between 1901 and 1906, and was known for his booming preaching style .

Philadelphia has produced a number of popular gospel acts, most famously the singer Clara Ward. Ward rose to fame after a performance at the National Baptist Convention in Philadelphia n 1943. Ward formed a group with several other local singers, and toured widely throughout the decade; the Clara Ward Singers were known for bringing a sense of style and glamour to the emerging gospel music industry.

Irish music

Philadelphia became home to a large community of Irish immigrants in the 1840s, and then continually through the later 19th and 20th centuries. These immigrants brought with many styles of traditional Irish music, such as jigs and reels. Beginning in the late 1940s, Philadelphia's Irish music scene grew rapidly, spurred in part by the broadcasting of live music by Austin Kelly and the All-Ireland Irish Orchestra by the WTEL radio station.

Modern Philadelphia has contributed a number of important performers of Irish music, most famously Mick Moloney, John Vesey, Kevin McGillian and Séamus Egan, both of whom were part of a nationwide resurgence of interest in traditional Irish-American music. In Philadelphia, this revival of traditional music built on the work of earlier pioneers like Ed Reavy, a composer who began working in the 1930s.

Philadelphia's most famous contribution to Irish traditional music is Mick Moloney. Moloney was from County Limerick, and was a musician both in Limerick and in Dublin, playing the banjo and singing; he was also a member of the popular folk group The Johnstons. Having emigrated to Philadelphia in 1973, Moloney has lectured widely on Irish culture and music and founded the organization Green Fields of America, which promotes Irish-American music. Egan is a multi-instrumentalist originally from Philadelphia, though he moved back to County Mayo as a young man, and has there become a prominent musician.

Roman Catholic church music

Albert Rosewig had become a prominent local reverend and musical arranger in the late 19th century, known for a modern style that adapted elements of Western classical music. In 1903, however, Pope Pius X issued an edict (Motu Proprio), which was intended to reform and restore church music to a more traditional style. To that end, local composer, conductor and publisher Nicola Montani led the reform, which restricted musical style and instrumentation, and encouraged the use of polyphony, Latin and restored Gregorian chant. He was not the only noted local liturgical composer, however, as M. Immaculée, music director of Immaculata College, was also a well-known composer; she was noted as a composer of choral works, and also promoted liturgical music, and female composers, in the Philadelphia area.

Montani was from New York, but became prominent in Philadelphia as an editor for liturgical music at local publishers, and music director at several Philadelphia Catholic high schools. By the 1920s, he had grown in stature, forming the Society of St. Gregory and the Palestrina Choir, which helped to bring attention to Renaissance polyphony and publishing the Catholic Choirmaster, a magazine. Montani also created a list of music that did and did not meet the standards put forth by Motu Proprio, in the processing banning or altering well-known works by composers ranging from Franz Schubert and Gioacchino Rossini to Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Montani's St. Gregory Hymnal was used throughout Philadelphia-area Catholic churches until after the Second Vatican Council, which relaxed rules on Catholic music. Modern churches in the city use instruments ranging from electric organs and guitars to keyboards, saxophones and marimbas. The International Eucharistic Congress was held in Philadelphia in 1976, resulting in a new hymn called "Gift of Finest Wheat", which has become widespread.

Philadelphia Orchestra

Under the direction of Leopold Stokowski & Eugene Ormandy, the Philadelphia Orchestra produced several well-known recordings in the 20th century, including the 1940 score for the Disney film Fantasia. After Stokowski's departure, Ormandy continued to lead the Orchestra into the 1970s, when it became the first American orchestra to visit China and perform in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing; the Chinese tour was well-received, and has been repeated three times .

The 20th century saw the Orchestra make many innovations, becoming the first of its kind to make electric recordings, to perform on its own commercially sponsored radio broadcast, to perform on the soundtrack of a feature film (The Big Broadcast), to appear on a national television broadcast, to record the complete Beethoven symphonies on compact disc, to give a live cybercast of a concert on the Internet, and to tour Vietnam.

Jazz

File:Mccoy tyner 1973 gh.jpg

McCoy Tyner in 1973

Philadelphia developed an early jazz scene, beginning with Ethel Waters, a singer from nearby Chester, Pennsylvania, who was the first star for the Black Swan Record Company. The Standard Theatre and Dunbar Theatre (later renamed the Lincoln) were important venues for jazz in the early 20th century, when most major performers stopped in Philadelphia along with Baltimore, Washington and New York. Though jazz was a fundamentally African American style, Philadelphia's multi-ethnic population was attracted to the style, and the city's Italian and Jewish neighborhoods produced several well-known jazz musicians. Two of the most important were the Italian jazz instrumentalists Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti, the latter of whom became known as the "Mad Fiddler from Philly". Others included Jimmy Amadie, Stan Getz, Robert Chudnick and Jan Savitt, who, with his band the Top Hatters, toured with George Tunnell, one of the first African American singers in the city to consistently sing with a major white band. The city's early 20th century mainstream dance scene was led by the bandleader Howard Lanin, whose band performed popular showtunes, waltzes and light jazz .

Philadelphia's African American population grew greatly as a result of immigration from the south during World War 2, when future luminaries like the Heath Brothers, Dizzy Gillespie and John Coltrane moved to Philadelphia from the Carolinas. Philadelphia's mid-20th century jazz heritage includes an important role in the development of bebop, a style most closely associated with New York. In the 1940s, Philadelphia jazz was based out of clubs along Columbia Avenue in North Philadelphia and clubs like the Clef Club and Pep's in South Philadelphia . The city produced a number of bop-era saxophonists, most famous including John Coltrane, one of the most renowned jazz musicians of the 20th century, known for an "active, vigorous, emotionally charged style" . The city also produced Charlie Biddle, Clifford Brown, Philly Joe Jones, Jimmy Smith, Hank Mobley, Wilbur Ware, Hassan ibn Ali and Benny Golson .

In 1970, Philadelphia also became the home of Sun Ra's band, who helped lay the groundwork for the 1980s scene, which locally produced McCoy Tyner, Grover Washington, Jr. and Stanley Clarke. The 1990s local jazz scene continued to thrive with artists like Terell Stafford, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Uri Caine and Christian McBride .

1950s pop

File:WIKI BOBBY RYDELL 1.jpg

Bobby Rydell in 1998

Philadelphia's first major contribution to mainstream American pop music was the television show American Bandstand, hosted by Dick Clark. The show featured music and dancing teenagers, and became an enduring feature of American music and television, groundbreaking in its broadcasting of rock and roll in the early 1950s . Clark, as the show's host, became a major player in the American music industry, and the show brought attention to Philadelphia's music scene, facilitating the rise of local labels like Swan Records, Cameo-Parkway and Chancellor Records. This system produced pop stars including Fabian, Bobby Rydell and Frankie Avalon. Dick Clark became part of a payola scandal in the 1950s, but emerged from Congressional hearing "unscathed". The show moved to Los Angeles, however, and Philadelphia's pop output began to wane .

Philadelphia's 1950s-era musical output included the rock pioneer Bill Haley from Chester, Pennsylvania and the rockabilly musician Charlie Gracie. Philadelphia also had a vibrant R&B and soul scene, including most influentially the label Cameo-Parkway, which was responsible for some 1950s R&B dance hits beginning with Chubby Checker's "The Twist". Cameo-Parkway followed with a series of other dance-themed novelty songs like "The Wah Watusi" by The Orlons, "Mashed Potato Time" by Dee Dee Sharp and "The Bristol Stomp" by The Dovells .

Philadelphia's famous 1950s performers included Danny & the Juniors, a doo wop group. They were among the first of Philadelphia's doo wop musicians to gain national success. Doo wop was a style of a cappella vocal music associated with many cities of the urban East Coast, especially Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey and Baltimore

Philly soul

Main article: Philadelphia soul

In the 1960s, Philadelphia soul began to develop its own sound, drawing from the girl group sound with "strong pop melodies and brassy, upbeat production (without as much use of) interactive harmonies", while other performers, like the funky Howard Tate adoped a more Southern soul-style sound. Major girl group-oriented acts included Brenda & the Tabulations, with their string-dominated doo wop hit "Dry Your Eyes", Barbara Mason's sultry vocals on "Yes, I'm Ready" and Claudine Clark's "raucous" sound. The most influential of these performers, however, was Patti LaBelle, who became a major pop singer in the 1970s .

R&B and soul-oriented indie labels in the 1960s included Phil-LA and Arctic Records, where the songwriting and producing team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff began their careers. Gamble and Huff were architects of the Philadelphia sound in soul music, beginning with their 1967 hit for the Soul Survivors' "Expressway to Your Heart". Their signature sound was sentimental and romantic, and began to develop with The Intruders, a long-running pop act. Jerry Butler became an increasingly important performer later in the decade, as Gamble and Huff experimented with a lush, orchestral sound produced by large ensembles of strings, bells and horns. The effect was a "funky" style, "more removed from earlier soul's R&B and blues roots", and "reminiscent of Motown in its attention to detail and hooks, but was much more lightweight". Though Gamble and Huff were the most renowned producers of the Philly soul scene, the area also produced Thom Bell, who worked with The Delfonics, The Stylistics and The Spinners on a more doo wop-influenced style .

In the early 1970s, Philly soul broke through with its most popular recordings of the era. Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label started the trend after signing a distribution agreement with CBS. The O'Jays became the first major act under this arrangement, and became known for a grittier lyrical feel, established on the hit "Back Stabbers", which had a socially conscious focus on inner-city life. The O'Jays were followed by the more romantic Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, which produced the future solo vocalist Teddy Pendergrass .

By the middle of the 1970s, Philadelphia soul had declined greatly in popularity. Audiences began to move toward disco, where Philadelphia's only major output was the local veteran Patti LaBelle. The city remained an important musical landmark, however, and left behind an influence on such varied groups as the Four Tops and local blue-eyed soul duo Hall and Oates. By the end of the 1980s, Philadelphia had little in the way of popular acts, with all the major studios and labels closing down or declining in production .

Recent music scene

In the late 20th and early 21st century, Philadelphia's local music scene produced a number of respected performers from a variety of fields, including jazz, R&B, rock, hip hop and dancehall. The city's most historically important contribution to popular music since the 1980s was a major part in the early evolution of East Coast hip hop, a style based out of New York City. In more recent years, the city's large Jamaican population has caused the spread of dancehall and reggae clubs to dominate a large part of Philadelphia's nightlife. Grindcore, industrial music and hardcore punk are also a part of Philadelphia's modern music scene, built around labels like Relapse, Dancing Ferret and Chord/Too Damn Hype, respectively .

Electronic music

Philadelphia has a diverse DJ scene of electronic dance music, based in an area sometimes called Vinyl Row on Fourth Street. Most major events and parties are advertised in this area, and in a column by Sean O'Neal called DJ Nights in the Philadelphia City Paper. DJ clubs include Fluid, Shampoo and Transit, while the city's most prominent DJs include Rob Paine, Willyum, Roland Riso, Sat-One and Robbie Tronco .

Philadelphia's electronic music scene includes DJs who play house, techno and other styles, but the city is particularly known for the techstep style of drum and bass, and is home to perhaps the country's most popular DJ of that style, Dieselboy. The most important drum and bass nightclub in Philadelphia is Club Skyline, and local performers include Joe Lesesne, Karl K and MC Dub 2 .

R&B and hip hop

The first major pop hip hop acts from Philadelphia were Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff; the city also produced a number of other noted performers, like Lisa Lopes of TLC, and New Jack Swing group Boyz II Men. Local recorded hip hop began in the early 1980s, with Lady B and Eddie B. It was Schoolly D, however, who first put Philadelphia on the hip hop map and made Philadelphia "the spawning ground for a whole new direction in rap music". Sometimes called the first gangsta rapper, Schoolly D rose to local fame with the single "Gangster Boogie", which got airplay as far north as New York. He rapped about the life of a "gangsta", about living in the ghetto and dealing with poverty and crime.

Smith was the most visible of the early stars, and he gave the city a reputation for upbeat, happy raps, verging on novelty songs . That image has survived, according to some local rappers, into the 2000s, and has made it difficult for Philadelphia-area performers to be taken seriously elsewhere. However, the local scene remains vibrant, with regular performances across the city, including at Temple University's African Student Union. Some performers have achieved considerable national acclaim since Smith, however, especially The Roots, Beanie Sigel and Eve ; the city has also produced the well-known alternative hip hop duo Jedi Mind Tricks, Princess Superstar and Bahamadia. Philadelphia has also been home to a number of recent R&B and pop acts like Jill Scott, Pink and Musiq Soulchild.

Jamaican music

Philadelphia is home to the second-largest Jamaican population of any city in the United States. Jamaican music clubs, devoted to styles like dancehall, have become a major part of the Philadelphia nightclub scene in the early 2000s. Clubs like Upper Deck, Genesis, Pinnacle and Reef have been mainstays of the Philadelphia dancehall scene. Many of these clubs hold dancehall contests, though there is no single such contest that is extremely famous or semi-official in the city.

DJ and music promoter David Russell has done a lot to establish the Philadelphia dancehall scene. Russell, who is from Kingston, Jamaica, first became a DJ in Jamaica, then moved to Philadelphia in 1994. He then created Jamaican Dave Productions, which has spurred the growth of the local industry and performers like Peter Blacks and the Reggae Vibrations Sound System.

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• "Direct-to-Tape Recording Company". The Wanamaker Organ. Retrieved January 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)