Footprnt Spotlights Dance Music's Black Origins During Miami Music Week

Over the years, Miami Music Week has become a sprawling, multifaceted affair, engulfing the entire city. Flyers appear near every storefront, parties are announced nonstop on Instagram, and even the Metrorail announcements warn locals about the imminent arrival of Ultra revelers. The sheer number of events can overwhelm even the most seasoned partygoers, requiring the mentality of a long-distance marathon runner to make it to the finish line.

Amid pool parties, rooftop events, and 24-hour functions, one MMW party is spotlighting local talent behind the decks. Footprnt, which will take place at Gramps on Sunday, March 30, is an event series highlighting Black dance music and presented in association with Public Energy, the visual label led by multidisciplinary artist Ty Davis.

Davis got his creative start with photography and design but eventually learned to DJ during the pandemic, taking on the alias Duality. "It's not only expanded my palette of music and what I like playing, but DJing has also allowed it to connect to my identity more as a Black person," Davis told ProcrastinationRadio in an interview.

Since then, Davis has developed a larger commitment to highlighting dance music's critical points of origin in Miami. Since 2023, Footprnt has emphasized the significant role Black culture and people have played in developing a musical landscape that transcends borders and time. Davis not only wanted to see more Black voices and spaces, he wanted to contribute by making room for them.

"I really don't see that many Black DJs here, outside of the realm of rap and hip-hop," he says. "That, to me, is really empowering, and I want to see how I can find others who do it. That's the whole reason why I did Public Energy Radio, just to find other black DJs that are talented around here."
Davis is motivated by the contributions made to dance music by Black performers. It's impossible to imagine what electronic dance music would sound like today without Black originators like Frankie Knuckles, Rashad, Juan Atkins, and Jesse Saunders. The soundtrack to the club scene that brings eventgoers out in droves wouldn't exist without them, but this thread of continuity between the past and the present is often relegated to the sidelines.

Last year during MMW, Davis was on the lineup for the Blind Records showcase, which brought footwork architect RP Boo to Miami for the first time. Footwork, born out of Chicago's ghetto house movement, began as a style of dancing seen at house music shows before evolving into the hip-hop-laced, fast-paced genre it is known as today. Davis summed it up best: "Black music is dance music. Techno, house, footwork, Baltimore club, Jersey club: this is all Black music." It is a much-needed reminder during a time when these contributions often remain unknown and unacknowledged, where techno is largely associated with Berlin nightclubs as opposed to the Belleville Three's Music Institute in Detroit.

The lineup for Footprnt's MMW finale at Gramps is stacked with DJs who understand Davis' mission: Toni Shardai, Le Poodle, Rara, Gum the Wrapper, and Sucia!

Lovers of footwork, juke, Baltimore club, jungle, and ghettotech should consider this a must-attend event. It'll be a rarity, a true gem among tech house oversaturation at one of the city's most beloved venues. It's also free, making it financially accessible to all who wish to attend. "The dancefloor is universal no matter where you come from," Davis adds.

Anyone who attends Footprnt can interface with the forgotten origins of dance music while becoming formally acquainted with newer talents who've studied the past while pushing musical movements forward.

Footprnt. With Duality, Sucia!, Gumthewrapper, Le Poodle, Rara, and Toni Shardai. 5 p.m. Sunday, March 30, at Gramps, 176 NE 24th St., Miami; gramps.com. Admission is free with RSVP via shotgun.live.

Find the full list of Miami Music Week 2025 events here.