On Saturday, August 28, a congregation of DJs, producers, and dancers was held in Newark, New Jersey to celebrate club music culture. Cherise Gary, also known as UNIIQU3 and dubbed the Jersey Club Queen, used her connections to curate the first-ever PBNJ Block Party at Al-Munir Urban Farms as a way to bring club artists from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Jersey together, growing a community that’s been bubbling up for over 20 years.
Club music has deemed itself an impressionable genre in the music industry and received a lot of recognition worldwide. If we’re being honest, club music, like many other genres, is Black music. In the past, musical pioneers would be erased from history, but times are changing. Now, Black artists are leading in the music space and creating opportunities for those to follow, and we especially saw this at the PBNJ Block Party.
UNIIQU3 said, “we had a full day of inspiration and activities,” and indeed we did! Music production and dance workshops were offered earlier in the day to all ages at Al-Munir Farms, while the PBNJ afterparty was held at Taj Lounge. Throughout the day, attendees were able to dance to club music and learn about the culture. It was a beautiful sight to see between the beat cypher and dance battles. Not to mention the DJs and live performances that kept the audience moving all day (and night) long. “I curated this lineup to perfection,” UNIIQU3 continues on to say, “just of people that are doing dope stuff in their communities.”
Watch our recap video from the PBNJ Block Party and be sure to follow PBNJ on Instagram.