Where the Bass Lives, From Chicago to the Charm City: House Music and Black Baltimore, 1986-2026

Where the Bass Lives, From Chicago to the Charm City: House Music and Black Baltimore, 1986–2026 traces the sonic, cultural, and political journey of house music as it traveled from its Chicago roots to Baltimore’s Black communities. The presentation examines four decades of DJs, dance floors, radio waves, club spaces, and grassroots scenes that shaped a distinctly Baltimore house sound and culture. The talk also explores how house music functioned as a site of Black joy, resistance, and community-building from the late 1980s to the present.

Presenter Bio

Dr. Teisha Dupree-Wilson is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for the History and African American Studies Program at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland. She is received her BA in history from Howard University. Dr. Dupree-Wilson went on to obtain her law degree from Northwestern California University School of Law. She later earned her MA and Ph.D. in history from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Dupree-Wilson currently serves as the Chairperson for the African American and Civil Rights Caucus of the Radio Preservation Task Force at the Library of Congress and is a National Advisory Board Member for the HBCU Radio Preservation Project. She is also a Commissioner for the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is dedicated to researching cases of racially motivated lynchings in the state’s history. Dr. Dupree-Wilson’s areas of specialization include African American Media History, the African American Legal Community, Hip Hop History, Afro-Latin American and Caribbean History, and Museum Studies. Dr. Dupree-Wilson is a proud member of the Association for the Study of African