Episode 4 explores the pivotal role of DJs in shaping Detroit techno. It highlights how figures like Jeff Mills, Ken Collier, and the Electrifying Mojo fostered community, creativity, and sonic experimentation. DJs are shown as cultural mediators—bridging generations, creating live experiences, and transforming dance floors into spaces of Afrofuturist possibility.

Host: Julian Chambliss. Featured Voices: Jeff Mills, Derek May, Mike Huckaby, Kevin Saunderson, John Collins, Stacey “Hotwaxx” Hale, Tobias C. van Veen, Reynaldo Anderson, Omar Meftah.

Presented by WKAR Public Media in partnership with MSU Museum at Michigan State University.
Supported in part by MSU Federal Credit Union.

Includes:

Jeff Mills - La plus Grande Légende de La Techno EVER | Konbini, 2019.

Detroit: The Blueprint Of Techno, 2011. Ken

Collier, DJ Set, Heaven (Detroit) - Part I, 2017.

African Drum Music, 2014.

Julian C. Chambliss and Tobias C Van Veen, “Interview of Afrofuturist Sound Scholar Tobias C. Van Veen,” Michigan State University Library, G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection: Voices of the Black Imaginary, June 2021.

Julian C. Chambliss, “Interview of Erik Steinskog of the University of Copenhagen,” Michigan State University Library, G. Robert Vincent Voice Library Collection: Voices of the Black Imaginary, October 24, 2020.