DJ Alaska, DJ Tamayo and DJ Jesus Freak
July 8, 8 p.m. | Armoury Deep Ellum
Congratulations are in order for DJ Alaska. The Oak Cliff artist recently collaborated with Dickies for Pride Month, offering their guide to Oak Cliff to the Fort Worth-based clothing brand. Click here to watch the collaboration before the headlining set on Friday. Fort Worth DJs Tamayo and Jesus Freak will join in the party at the Armoury. Expect a mix filled with house, darkwave, and synth. Come dressed in your finest all-Black, goth-inspired fit for a night at the cosmic club. No cover at the door.
DLMT, LAKIM of Soulection, JAKEGATEWOOD, and DJ BOYBLK
July 9, 8 p.m. | Deep Ellum Art Company
Two summers ago, musician and producer JAKEGATEWOOD came up with the idea for a Youtube series he called Take A Break where he performed a set of house music. The first episode, recorded in an industrial kitchen, was a show of his meticulous preparation as he transitioned from one track to another on his Pioneer DJ controller. Like most musicians impacted by the pandemic, the producer used YouTube to stay creative as a performer when we couldn’t gather in the same room. That series has since evolved into a monthly party to celebrate house music. To commemorate the inaugural function, he has brought some of the biggest names in the genre, such as DLMT and LAKIM, and BOYBLK, the resident DJ at Meet Me Underground in Fort Worth. Purchase tickets.
Devin The Dude
July 9, 9 p.m. | Granada Theater
Devin The Dude was one of the original musicians signed to Rap-A-Lot Records, the Houston label that put out albums by the Geto Boys and Z-Ro, among many others. Since the early 1990s, the Houston MC has amassed a cult following through a specifically vivid style of first-person narrative storytelling and humor. The Dude, his debut studio album, showcased his explicit and comedic nature, which earned him the moniker “Hip-Hop’s Richard Pryor.” Although he never achieved the mainstream success of some of his Rap-A-Lot counterparts, Devin The Dude is one the genre’s unsung heroes and always fills a room with smoke. Buy tickets.
Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin
July 10, 6:45 p.m. | Dickies Arena
“There’s never been a time when the hottest gospel act in the world is a choir from Atlanta beloved as much by Justin Bieber and Franklin as they are by 1,300 inmates at the Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade, Florida,” writes Marcus K. Dowling of the Nashville Tennessean. The hottest gospel act in question, Maverick City Music, recorded Kingdom Book One, the band’s latest EP, with incarcerated men and women from the Miami correctional facility and Grammy award winner Kirk Franklin. Recently, the group performed selections from the EP with incarcerated folks at Rikers Island in New York and lifted the spirits of attendees at this year’s BET Awards ceremony. Get tickets.
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