Chicago DJ who coined “Steppin’ audio” phrase on South Side explains dance’s value throughout Black Record Thirty day period 2022

CHICAGO (WLS) — If you’ve lived in the Chicago spot lengthy sufficient, you’ve in all probability read the term “Steppin’.”

It is really a preferred dance that incorporates clean steps, a fantastic lover and a whole ton of swag. People today are now Steppin’ all-around the world, and it commenced suitable below in Chicago, thanks to DJ Sam Chatman.

Some of Chicago’s smoothest dancers have occur to Family Den on the South Facet to demonstrate off their finest moves. This design of dance originated from “The Bop,” which started off in the 1940s.

But as a younger, up-and-coming DJ, Chatman seen the dance evolving into a thing a lot diverse. ABC 7’s Samantha Chatman sat down with her dad to speak about the origins of Steppin’ music.

“Effectively, I experienced a pal of mine who would be dancing and he would break absent from his associate and he would form of like, stroll back again to her. It was like he was stepping. So, I kept saying Steppin’ and Steppin’ and the word Steppin’ just caught on,” Chatman mentioned. “The rest is history!”

The Steppin’ movement took Black Chicagoans by storm in the 1970s. If you failed to know how to action, you desired to understand. But top up to its popularity, Chatman admitted some other DJs had their uncertainties.

“They laughed at me all over the town. They stated, ‘this male is likely to just perform this songs? Nobody’s going to go there and listen to this aged songs, sluggish audio,'” he claimed.

It failed to get extended for folks to capture on, nevertheless. Chatman’s steppers sets shortly turned the go-to location for dancers. At his sets, Chatman even managed to broker peace involving South Side and West Facet gangs.

“If you had been West Sider you couldn’t occur to The Dungeon. If you ended up a South Sider, you could not go to the Keyman’s Club. So, what I did was, I obtained a group of men who are good dancers, and also gang customers. I took the South Aspect fellas to the West Side and launched them to the West Facet men,” Chatman explained. “At first, the West Aspect men wanted to do anything to them. I released them. I discussed what it was all about and enable them know that on Sunday, they could appear to the South Facet. I was able to merge these gangs, some of them Gang Disciples or Black Stone Rangers. These same leaders again then 15, 16, 17 many years old… are 50- and 60-yr-previous good friends now.”

If you’d like to find out how to move, teacher Andre Blackwell explained observe is important.

“You have to practice,” Blackwell claimed. “For occasion, when I initially begun dancing, I danced each individual day and began practicing every single day in my dwelling, in my basement, every single day, in all places. You apply with the 8-rely.”

Steppin’ is not just in Chicago any longer, however.

“It can be in Atlanta, Florida, California, Hawaii, Washington,” Chatman claimed. “They’re Steppin’ in Greece. They are Steppin’ in England. They are Steppin’ in Amsterdam. They’re Steppin’ all about the globe, and in my coronary heart, I honestly felt it would be that way.”

When Samantha questioned no matter whether Steppin’ is continue to alive, Sam said it is just the beginning.

“Excuse me! We haven’t even scratched the area,” Chatman explained. “Let’s go to do the job, steppers. Let’s go to operate!”