Baltimore Club And DJ K-Swift Saved The Music Industry

Here’s The Story Of The Music Industry’s Most Influential “Club Queen”

There’s an easy-to-argue point to make that the modern music industry would’ve likely been overcome by European and Asian pop variations without the work of Baltimore-based DJ and tastemaker Khia “DJ K-Swift” Edgerton. Her beloved, house and hip-hop inspired, three-plus decade old, “Baltimore club music” variant ultimately evolved both dance music and mainstream pop into a commercially sustainable genre able to weather the storm of dipping roughly 300% in sale value in the past decade. In understanding that DJ K-Swift tragically drowned just over ten years ago and that Baltimore club’s blend of rap breaks and house grooves permeates everything from festival-ready EDM to the top-40s dalliance with tropical-style bass jams and danceable rap, it’s undeniable. K-Swift — from radio and the clubs to the boardroom, festival stage, musical consciousness and beyond — is one of modern pop’s most important, and likely not well enough spotlighted changemakers. The Helen of Troy-meets-Harriet Tubman of underground dance, she launched as many metaphorical musical ships as she exposed creative minds to freedom via the dancefloor.

“Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of that stuff that happened, from Diplo and M.I.A…