Data DJ Workshop Featuring Producer Sirr Tmo

Black Arts + Data Futures Event (A Borghesi-Mellon Interdisciplinary Humanities Workshop)

Chicago dj Sirr Tmo (Reginald Cosper Jr.) has been expanding the craft since his early teens with the TekLife DJ Crew and the T.O.G. dancers at legendary South Side venues such as Markham Skating Rink and Final Phaze Studios. Sirr Tmo is a tested battle dancer and DJ who has performed for the past 15 years in the underground ‘Footwork’ and ‘Juke’ house music style. Footwork/Juke is a maligned and misunderstood Chicago underground dance culture, that has only recently become more accepted as a form of youth empowerment. At the core of footwork music and dance is a dedication to technical physical prowess and skilled music production. In this Black Arts + Data Futures workshop, Sirr Tmo will demo the process of making footwork music — a frenetic and angular style of house that requires software literacy and performance acumen. He will walk through schematics of his tracks in Ableton Live and other digital audio software. Laptops with Ableton and software will be available, but participants are strongly encouraged to bring their own devices with demo versions of the software pre-loaded.

RSVP – Reginold Royston, Assistant Professor, Information School and Department of African Cultural Studies