The smartbar affiliate talks to the Fool's Gold Records founder about climbing the ranks, DJ discourse and how to exist in commercial and underground scenes simultaneously.This week's RA Exchange takes us to Chicago, where two big names—The Blessed Madonna and A-Trak—have a chat ahead of their back-to-back set at underground institution smartbar last month. These are two DJs who have been around the block. The Blessed Madonna (FKA The Black Madonna) is originally from Kentucky, but made her name in Chicago. She started out as an intern at smartbar and working at the local label Dust Trax, later becoming lead A&R and an established DJ in her own right. A-Trak is a Canadian artist who cut his teeth as head honcho of Fool's Gold Records. He's known for having developed the careers of artists like Kid Cudi and Danny Brown, and he also formed Duck Sauce with Armand Van Helden, a project synonymous with the bloghouse era. The two have a long history with Chicago, and they engage in a discussion about how they think the city looks from the outside. As one of the most segregated cities in the US, they say, what the rest of the world sees as one cohesive and unified hub for house music is instead divided by genre and area code. They also debate the complexities of existing in commercial and underground music worlds simultaneously, our collective over-fetishisation of the past, the stupidity of DJ discourse and Europe's tendency to impose its view of America—and American dance music—on the Midwest. Listen to the episode in full.

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