Footwork meets Dance Dance Revolution on Yaeji’s new track
‘ddr’ is named after the Japanese dance game & inspired by “a decade+ of being on the dancefloor”
Yaeji has just dropped ‘ddr’; a new single made with Enayet and K Wata, out now via XL Recordings.
The title is short for Dance Dance Revolution, the Japanese video game series, and the track draws on Chicago footwork and queer club culture. Bass on the record comes from Rough Talker.
Enayet and K Wata are longtime collaborators of hers and the co-founders of SLINK, both well established in New York’s underground club scene.
Yaeji describes the track as “inspired by Chicago footwork and a decade+ of being on the dancefloor,” and you can hear that in its quick, rhythm-driven movement, which the genre is well known for.
The video, directed by Giseong Jun, borrows from the game too. Look closely and you’ll notice the machine on screen is a Korean Pump It Up (펌프) cabinet, which Yaeji says is “the one I grew up with.”
For the release party in New York today (November 6), she plans to bring in a real DDR machine.
Read this next: From Chicago to the world: How footwork crossed the globe
In the music video’s description, she explains that the idea itself came to her on a night out in the city: “If our current world is suffocating us then what does the reality we wanna see actually look like?”.
Her answer is a dancefloor where people share the same space, look out for one another and stay on their own introspective journeys.
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The footwork connection extends to the people behind the project.
Yaeji credits Steelo and Legendary Top of the Era footwork collective, whom she calls “legends and innovators of chicago footwork,” and says “it was a dream to dance alongside them for ddr.”
She closes the tribute with “footwork forever, chicago forever, teklife forever, dj rashad forever.”
Watch ‘ddr’ below.
Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.
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