On Scene: DJ Slugo talks Chicago Ghetto House, South Side Culture and Why ‘Ghetto Will Never Die’
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Few artists are as deeply tied to the identity of a city as DJ Slugo is to Chicago. Long before Ghetto House travelled globally and influenced everything from juke to footwork, Thomas Kendricks was shaping the sound directly from the South Side, building tracks out of drum machines, neighbourhood energy and lived experience rather than industry trends.
Now, with ‘Ghetto House Music Vol. 3’ landing via Lady Tazz’s Mind Medizin imprint, Slugo reconnects with the raw, stripped-back energy that made his name in the first place. The EP doesn’t attempt to modernise the sound for wider acceptance. Instead, it leans fully into the grit, swing and physicality that defined Chicago dance music at its roots.
For Slugo, that connection to place remains central to everything he does. “Chicago is windy, gritty and beautiful all at the same time,” he says. “Growing up in this city is what shaped my sound.”
Unlike many dance music origin stories, his didn’t begin inside iconic clubs. It started much closer to home. “It wasn’t actually a club,” he explains. “It was apartments in the buildings I lived in where we threw parties, and the parties at the Boys and Girls Clubs.”
Those early spaces shaped the way he heard rhythm long before the music had a formal name attached to it. “My neighbourhood changed the way I hear music,” he says plainly. “Not the clubs.”
That perspective still runs through his productions decades later. Across ‘Ghetto House Music Vol. 3’, the focus stays firmly on movement and groove rather than polish. Tracks like ‘Throw That (Slug Dub)’ and ‘TazzMania’ feel deliberately immediate, driven by analogue drum programming, vocal loops and loose, live-feeling sequencing that prioritises energy over perfection.
That rawness reflects the environments where the music originally thrived. “The tough areas, the struggle, that shapes my sound directly and indirectly,” Slugo says. When asked what part of local culture feeds most into his work, he answers instantly: “The Robert Taylor Homes.”
That history matters. Ghetto House was never designed for mainstream validation. It came from community spaces, basement parties, battle culture and neighbourhood movement. Slugo’s catalogue helped define that identity through the 1990s alongside Dance Mania and the wider South Side scene, eventually influencing entire generations of producers worldwide.
Even now, Chicago itself still sits at the centre of his thinking. Ask which part of the city captures its real energy and he doesn’t hesitate. “The low end, South Side Chicago. If you know, you know.”
There’s also frustration with how outsiders often reduce the city to one narrative. “People think Chicago is only a violent city,” he says. “That’s so far from the truth.”
Instead, he points towards the overlooked details that shaped both the culture and the music. “The old parties and picnics from back in the day,” he says. Those gatherings carried the same energy that eventually fed directly into Ghetto House itself, loose, communal and built around rhythm.
Outside the studio, Slugo keeps things simple. When he needs to reset, he heads downstairs. “I go to my basement and meditate for like an hour,” he says. “Or I get on the treadmill for 30 minutes.” Music still remains part of the process even there. “I’ll go to my home studio, put headphones on and listen to different genres.”
That openness to influence continues to keep his perspective fresh, even while staying rooted in the sound he helped create. He’s also paying close attention to a younger generation of Chicago artists carrying the energy forward. “Jae Ivlie, Lana Je’ and Keisha Kash,” he says. “These three female artists are changing the Ghetto House sound.”
That evolution feels important to him. Not because the genre needs reinvention, but because it needs people continuing to push its spirit forward without losing its identity.
The city itself still feeds that inspiration daily. Smaller spaces like Smoke & Mirrors stand out not for image or hype, but for fundamentals. “I love the sound system there,” he says. In typical Slugo fashion, that’s enough explanation on its own.
Food matters too. Chicago’s culture lives as much through restaurants and neighbourhood spots as it does through clubs. Hibachi Grill remains one of his regular places. “Super chill vibe,” he says. “And I’m addicted to the noodles there.”
Even his answer to what a perfect night looks like avoids excess or glamour. “Getting home safely and being able to see my grandsons the next day.”
That grounding feels important when looking at Slugo’s wider legacy. Despite decades in dance music and global recognition, there’s still a directness to how he talks about the culture and his place within it. No mythology, no nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, just honesty about where the music came from and why it still matters.
If Chicago had a soundtrack at 3am, his choice says plenty about the emotional DNA underneath the harder edges of his sound. “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” he says. Soul, repetition, groove and storytelling all sitting beneath the surface.
And if someone lands in Chicago with no plan? Forget the tourist checklist. “Go to as many food spots as possible,” he says. “Chicago has the best food in the world. TRUST ME!!!!”
That same confidence runs through ‘Ghetto House Music Vol. 3’. The EP doesn’t chase trends or soften its edges. It simply reconnects with the rhythm, attitude and movement that made Ghetto House resonate in the first place, proving that even decades later, Slugo still understands exactly what makes the sound hit.
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