Living for the City

By Side Stage

Before Detroit gave the world Motown, techno, and hip-hop, it gave the world something harder to name: a feeling that music made in basements and backrooms and borrowed spaces could become the soundtr... more

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FAQs about Living for the City:

How many episodes does Living for the City have?

The podcast currently has 16 episodes available.

Living for the City episodes:

August 19, 2026 Brenda Franklin Corbett on Growing Up With Aretha Franklin | Living for the City Full Interview
Brenda Franklin Corbett is Aretha Franklin's cousin, raised in the Franklin family home in Detroit alongside Aretha, Carolyn, Erma, and Cecil, and one of Aretha's longtime background singers as part of the trio Aretha named the Prima Donnas. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
Brenda talks about singing with the grown folks in the choir at New Bethel Baptist Church by age six, in her own robe and her own chair, and the parade of legends who passed through the Franklin house on Oakland and East Grand Boulevard, from B.B. King and Cab Calloway to Mahalia Jackson. She gets into what it took to hold a note behind an artist who wanted the sound, the routines, and the look all perfect.
She also gets into the move to Los Angeles to help raise Aretha's children, her role advising the film Respect, and the day of Aretha's funeral, when she turned off the broadcast to catch a flight and landed three hours later to find it was still going.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Born Into the Franklin House
06:41 - Learning Her Voice
09:27 - Chasing the Dream to New York
12:17 - Singing Behind Aretha
17:49 - Los Angeles and Raising the Kids
22:33 - The Future of Gospel
25:15 - Guarding the Legacy
30:06 - What She's Most Proud Of

LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267

Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/

TAGS / KEYWORDS
Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Brenda Franklin Corbett, Aretha Franklin, Detroit gospel, Detroit music history, New Bethel Baptist Church, C.L. Franklin, Prima Donnas, background singers, Respect movie, Detroit soul music, gospel music Detroit, Detroit church music, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast

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41min
August 19, 2026 Mary Cobra on the Detroit Cobras and the Art of the Cover Song | Living for the City Full Interview
Mary Cobra is the founding guitarist of The Detroit Cobras, the band she started with singer Rachel Nagy that became one of the defining sounds of Detroit garage rock in the late '90s and early 2000s. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
Mary talks about growing up on bad Detroit radio, and how the silence pushed a generation of musicians to make the music nobody else would play for them. She traces the Cobras' sound back to crate digging through dollar bin soul 45s, and explains why the goal was never to imitate a singer's voice but to find the feeling underneath it. She breaks down her advice for young bands on why every act should cover a song at least once, and what it means if that cover ends up better than anything else in the set.
She also gets into the cheap rent and cheap bars that made Detroit's scene possible, the night Jack White told her at a bar that she should see what was happening and get on the road, and why the Cobras never set out to get signed but got picked up almost immediately once they did.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Meeting Mary Cobra: Founding Guitarist of the Detroit Cobras
00:54 - Detroit's Bad Radio and Growing Up on Motown, MC5, and The Stooges
03:22 - Digging Through Record Stores in a City With Nothing Else to Do
04:38 - Playing for Friends, Not for a Record Deal
07:16 - Cheap Rent, No Fear, and the Freedom to Tour
10:19 - Crate Digging Soul Records and Why a Cover Isn't About the Notes
22:13 - From Playing for Fun to Getting Signed
25:54 - What Success Changed and Why Every Young Band Should Play a Cover
33:17 - The Gold Dollar, Cutting 45s, and Becoming a Band's Band
40:01 - Bars as Detroit's Ecosystem and Where the Grit Came From
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Mary Cobra, Mary Cobra interview, The Detroit Cobras, Rachel Nagy, Detroit garage rock, Detroit rock history, Detroit music history, garage rock revival, Gold Dollar Detroit, Cass Corridor Detroit, Fortune Records Detroit, Detroit 45s, Detroit vinyl culture, Jack White, The White Stripes, Detroit crate digging, soul music covers, Detroit bars, Detroit DIY music scene, Detroit rock and roll, MC5, The Stooges, Motown, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast

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47min
August 05, 2026 LADYMONIX on Why She Left LA and Made Detroit Home | Living for the City Full Interview
LADYMONIX is a Detroit DJ who drove across the country from LA in 2016, spent her first year just going out and dancing, and has held a Sunday night residency at Motor City Wine for nine years. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
In this interview, LADYMONIX talks about why she left LA — the cliques, the cutthroat energy, the $3,500 overhead that made creativity feel impossible — and why Detroit gave her something she didn't even know she was looking for. She talks about how she got the Motor City Wine gig, why she plays five-hour sets every week, and what it means to build a room where people feel free enough to actually dance. She opens up about DJing as healing work rather than power, why she dislikes the word "fans" and prefers "supporters," and how Detroit's crowd changed the music she makes because they already know exactly what they like.
She also talks about why 90% of her guest bookings are women, why that never needs to be announced, and the lineage of women who came before her in this city — DJ Minx, K-Hand, Stacey Hale — and what it means to keep that door open.
This one is about finding the place where your work finally makes sense.
CHAPTERS
00:29 - Landing in Detroit: Why She Left LA and What She Found Here
03:45 - The Scene in LA vs the Scene in Detroit
07:08 - Affordability, Anxiety, and What Financial Breathing Room Does for Creativity
09:18 - Nine Years at Motor City Wine: How the Residency Started and How It Held
12:02 - DJing as Healing Work, Not Power
14:20 - Reading a Room on the Fly and What Detroit Crowds Demand
17:19 - Digging Every Day and How Detroit Changed Her Taste
19:22 - The Future of Detroit Techno and Who Is Making It Now
23:40 - Generations on the Dance Floor and What That Means
25:52 - Sharing the Stage and Why 90% of Her Bookings Are Women
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Lady Monix, Lady Monix interview, Motor City Wine Detroit, Detroit DJ, Detroit house music, Detroit techno, women DJs Detroit, DJ Minx, K-Hand Detroit, crate digging, Detroit music scene, DJ residency Detroit, healing through music, Detroit community, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast

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32min
July 29, 2026 Carl Craig on Detroit Techno, the Art of the Alias, and the Future of Electronic Music | Living for the City Full Interview
Carl Craig is one of Detroit techno's most important architects, the producer behind Bug in the Bassbin, Landcruising, More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art, and a body of work released under so many aliases — Paperclip People, 69, Innerzone Orchestra — that the full scope of his influence is almost impossible to map. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
In this interview, Carl traces his origin story from playing Axel F on his cousin's Sequential Circuits synthesizer to carrying 12-inches to a family reunion in Georgia where Egypt Egypt cleared the room. He talks about Electrifying Mojo, Alan Oldham's Fast Forward, and the radio that raised him, and why the homogenization of radio in the '90s was a loss the culture still hasn't recovered from. He breaks down the art of the alias, why making music under different identities freed him from genre constraints, and how Sun Ra and George Clinton got there first.
Carl also reflects on why Detroit's architecture and its ruins both fed his sonic world-building, why he came back after living in London and Spain, and what it would take for electronic music — and hip hop — to find their way back underground.
This one is about defiance, imagination, and the career you build when you refuse to play it safe.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - A Career Built on Defiance
00:22 - First Synth, First Record, First Crowd
05:34 - Detroit Radio, Electrifying Mojo, and the Adventure of FM
09:18 - Watching the First Wave Leave for Europe
12:01 - Musical Influences: Trevor Horn, Art of Noise, the UK
14:44 - More Songs About Food and the Synths Behind It
19:44 - The Art of the Alias: Sun Ra, George Clinton, and Paperclip People
25:02 - Detroit's Architecture and the Music It Inspired
27:47 - Why He Came Back: Big Fish, Small Pond, and Honest City
30:56 - The Future of Electronic Music and What Hip Hop Needs to Remember
37:16 - Detroit Public Schools and the Legacy of What Was Possible
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Carl Craig, Carl Craig interview, Detroit techno, Paperclip People, 69 Carl Craig, Innerzone Orchestra, Bug in the Bassbin, Landcruising, More Songs About Food, Detroit music history, Electrifying Mojo, Detroit radio, Belleville Three, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, J Dilla, Afrofuturism techno, Detroit electronic music, alias in music, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast

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41min
July 22, 2026 Kevin Saunderson on Pioneering Detroit Techno and Its Legacy | Living for the City FULL Interview
Kevin Saunderson is one of the Belleville Three, the teenagers from suburban Michigan who invented Detroit techno, the architect behind Inner City, and one of the most influential catalogs in electronic music history. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
In this interview, Kevin traces his path from New York to Inkster to Belleville, where he met Derrick May and eventually Juan Atkins, and where there was nothing to do but make music. He talks about the early days at the Music Institute, driving records to Chicago to get them played alongside house music, and the night at Heaven in London when he first heard Big Fun played for a crowd that rushed the dance floor. He breaks down the origin of the word techno, why his sound went toward melody and vocals when the others went abstract, and how the Reese Bass ended up shaping not just techno but hip hop without most people knowing it.
Kevin also reflects on the racism he encountered in Belleville, the segregation that made it harder to break in America than in Europe, and what it meant to watch the city of Detroit finally embrace what he helped build decades after he built it.
This one is about invention, patience, and what it means to go full circle.
CHAPTERS
00:19 - From New York to Belleville: How Kevin Found the Music
02:50 - Meeting Derrick May and Juan Atkins
04:16 - The Light Switch: Giving Up Football for Music
07:31 - The Belleville Three and the Mythology Growing Around Them
09:44 - Driving to Chicago and Finding the First Audiences
10:57 - Big Fun in London: The First Time He Heard His Music Move a Crowd
14:32 - The Music Institute in Its Prime
17:35 - Why America Was Different: Segregation, Radio, and the Industry
20:31 - The Reese Bass, Collaboration, and Techno Boulevard
36:39 - Staying in Detroit and What Keeps Him Here
40:07 - The Future of Techno and What Full Circle Looks Like
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Kevin Saunderson, Kevin Saunderson interview, Belleville Three, Detroit techno history, Inner City Detroit, Reese Bass, Detroit techno origin, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Music Institute Detroit, techno history, Big Fun Inner City, Detroit electronic music, Movement Festival Detroit, DJ Minx, Carl Craig, Techno Boulevard Detroit, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast

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50min
July 15, 2026 Waajeed on Dilla, Slum Village and Detroit's Music Future | Living for the City FULL Interview
Waajeed is a Detroit producer and DJ who came up with J Dilla and Slum Village, co-founded the Underground Music Academy in the old NAACP building on the north end of Detroit, and hosts a weekly show on WDET. This is his full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
In this interview, Waajeed traces his origin story from rolling dice in Pershing High School's parking lot to landing in Amp Fiddler's basement, where a generation of Detroit artists learned how to make music and how to move through the world. He talks about his years with Slum Village, keeping the trains on the tracks, designing the album covers, filming the footage and why he eventually walked away from hip hop entirely.
He breaks down the Platinum Pied Pipers record, his collaboration with Dwele, and the genre-defying freedom behind Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz.
Waajeed also opens up about why he came back to Detroit after nine years in New York, what it means to own the things you pour yourself into, and how the Underground Music Academy became a space where every skillset he has — design, music, building, mentorship — finally came together in one place.
This one is about legacy, lineage, and what it means to be a conduit.
CHAPTERS
00:28 - The Underground Music Academy and the NAACP Building
03:08 - What Mentorship Actually Means: Lessons from Amp Fiddler
08:13 - Growing Up Next to a Prison: Urgency, Survival, and Detroit
12:29 - Funky Drummer, Dilla's Basement, and the Birth of a Sound
14:41 - Slum Village: Keeping the Trains on the Tracks
19:22 - Platinum Pied Pipers and Breaking Away from Hip Hop
29:07 - The Shelter, Genre Freedom, and Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz
36:35 - Nine Years in New York and Why He Came Back
40:48 - Gentrification, Culture Drain, and What Detroit Owes Itself
48:46 - The Future of the Underground Music Academy
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Waajeed, Waajeed interview, Underground Music Academy Detroit, Slum Village, J Dilla, Platinum Pied Pipers, Amp Fiddler, Dwele Detroit, Detroit hip hop history, Detroit music producer, Detroit techno, Memoirs of Hi-Tech Jazz, Detroit gentrification, WDET radio Detroit, Detroit mentorship, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, Detroit music history, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast

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1h 4min
July 08, 2026 DJ Minx on Building Detroit's Techno Scene from the Ground Up | Living for the City FULL Interview
DJ Minx is one of the founding architects of Detroit's techno and house scene, the creator of Women on Wax, and one of the most important DJs the city has ever produced. This is her full conversation with host Hanif Abdurraqib.
In this extended interview, Minx traces her origin story from discovering techno through Electrifying Mojo on the radio to walking into her first gig with a bag of records and getting laughed at by the women at the door. She breaks down the difference between house and techno, the short-lived clubs that kept Black dance culture alive in Detroit, and what the Music Institute meant to an entire generation of dancers and DJs. She talks about Moodymann showing up at three of her parties before finally telling her she was starting a label in two weeks whether she felt ready or not, and how that conversation led to the Airborne EP and the birth of Women on Wax.
Minx also reflects on the responsibility of preservation — why Detroit techno needs to be in history books, why playing vinyl is a skill that not everyone has, and what it felt like to be on stage with K-Hand the last night she ever performed.
CHAPTERS
00:00 - The Shelter, the Music Institute, and Early Black Dance Culture in Detroit
03:56 - House vs Techno and the DJ Culture That Grew from the Dance Floor
08:00 - Radio, Electrifying Mojo, and Keeping Detroit Techno Alive
12:00 - How Minx Got Into DJing as a Woman in Detroit
18:59 - Moodymann, the Label Conversation, and the Birth of Airborne
23:03 - Women on Wax: From Mentorship to Movement
33:34 - The DJ's Role, Vinyl as a Craft, and Preserving Detroit Techno
41:00 - K-Hand: The Last Night
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
DJ Minx, DJ Minx interview, Women on Wax Detroit, Detroit techno history, Detroit house music, Music Institute Detroit, Detroit DJ culture, Electrifying Mojo, Moodymann, K-Hand Detroit, Detroit women DJs, vinyl DJing, Detroit techno pioneer, Airborne EP, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music culture, techno history, house music history, Detroit underground music, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast

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49min
July 01, 2026 The Teachers and Students Carrying Detroit's Sound Forward | Living for the City Ep. 8
Detroit has never been a city that lives in its past. Its greatest tradition has always been inventing the future.
In the season finale of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib looks beyond Detroit's musical legacy to the people who will define its next chapter. At the Detroit School of Arts, teacher Maritza turned a hallway conversation with Waajeed and Cornelius Harris into a techno program where students are learning not just the history of Detroit music, but how to shape its future. Some had never heard of Detroit techno before. Now they're creating original tracks on Roland machines and preparing to perform during Movement weekend.
Kevin Saunderson reflects on what it means to watch a new generation inherit the sound he helped create and why every generation has a responsibility to leave the door open for the next one. StanWill, one of Detroit's rising voices, shares how he's building a career on his own terms, making music relentlessly, cultivating community online, and refusing to wait for permission.
Throughout the season, Hanif has asked what makes a music city. Here, he arrives at his answer. It's not just the records, the venues, or even the artists. It's a culture that believes knowledge should be shared, opportunities should be created, and every generation deserves the chance to surprise the one before it.
What moved Hanif most wasn't simply the music these students were making. It was the faith their teachers and mentors had placed in them – the belief that the future isn't something to protect from young people, but something to build with them.
This one is about hope. About handing over the tools. And about believing the next great Detroit sound hasn't been heard yet.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - The Future Detroit Is Already Making 02:00 - Detroit School of Arts: Where Techno Gets Passed Down 06:48 - The Lineage: Gospel, Motown, Techno, and What Comes Next 09:43 - Brian McCollum on Independent Artists in the Digital Age 11:01 - Stanwill: Building Worlds and Kicking Down Doors 21:00 - Kevin Saunderson: One of the Original Architects Looks Ahead 25:00 - Complete Faith in the Process

LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267

Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/

TAGS / KEYWORDS
Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit School of Arts, Detroit techno future, Kevin Saunderson, Belleville Three, Stanwill Detroit, Nasan Detroit, Brian McCollum, Waajeed, Detroit techno education, Detroit hip hop future, Movement Festival Detroit, Roland Detroit, Detroit young artists, Detroit music next generation, techno education, Detroit independent artists, TikTok music, Detroit music 2026, Detroit music culture, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2026 podcast

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28min
June 24, 2026 How Detroit's Crate Diggers Kept the City's Music Alive | Living for the City Ep. 7
In Detroit, records were never just records. They were history, community, memory, and proof that you cared enough to go looking.
In Episode 7 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib explores Detroit's enduring vinyl culture and the people who have dedicated their lives to preserving music one record at a time. This is a story about collectors, DJs, store owners, and believers — people who see a record not as a product, but as a relationship.
Ben Blackwell walks through the Third Man pressing plant in the Cass Corridor and explains why DIY was never a trend in Detroit. It was a necessity. Andrey Douthard reflects on building Paramita Sound in the aftermath of losing J Dilla and Proof, and how records became a way to process grief, build community, and connect generations through music. Mary Cobra arrives with an armful of 45s and traces the Detroit Cobras' history back to a simple reality: if no one else was going to preserve the music they loved, they would do it themselves.
House Shoes made the decision to pull his catalog from streaming. If you want the music, you have to seek it out. DJ Minx still prefers vinyl because collecting records and truly knowing how to play them are two different things. Together, they make a case for something increasingly rare: intention.
Beneath every story is a larger question about what gets lost when music becomes frictionless. In Detroit, records remain a way of slowing down, paying attention, and honoring the people who came before.
This one is about preservation, intention, and a city that still believes discovery should take work.

CHAPTERS
00:31 - The First Record You Buy With Your Own Money
02:05 - Third Man Records and the DIY Philosophy of Vinyl
05:54 - Paramita Sound: Records as a Vehicle for Grief and Community
11:27 - Gatekeeping as Quality Control
14:05 - Mary Cobra and the 45
18:09 - House Shoes Pulled His Catalog. DJ Minx Won't Give Up the Needle.
21:44 - Digging for Records Is Relational

LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267

Stay connected!
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/

TAGS / KEYWORDS
Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit vinyl culture, crate digging Detroit, record stores Detroit, Third Man Records Detroit, Third Man Pressing, Ben Blackwell, Jack White, Paramita Sound, Andre Duhart, House Shoes, DJ Minx, Mary Cobra, Detroit Cobras, vinyl renaissance, record collecting, Detroit techno vinyl, Detroit hip hop, crate digging, vinyl vs streaming, physical music, record pressing, Archer Records Detroit, Detroit DIY music, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2025 podcast

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25min
June 17, 2026 The Artists Who Left Detroit and the Pull That Brought Them Home | Living for the City Ep. 6
Every artist Detroit has ever made has had to decide at some point whether to stay or go. The ones who left never fully left.
In Episode 6 of Living for the City, host Hanif Abdurraqib follows the migration patterns of Detroit's musicians — where they went, why they left, and what brought some of them back. Berry Gordy IV, son of the Motown founder, speaks from Los Angeles about what it meant when Motown moved west and what that departure did to the city it left behind. House Shoes, the DJ who spent a decade as the keeper of Detroit hip hop culture, opens up about leaving after losing Dilla and Proof in the same year and why Detroit felt like a coffin he had to grieve somewhere else. Waajeed spent nine years in New York trying to make an ambitious plan come to life before coming back to a Detroit that had changed, but still needed him. And Ben Blackwell, who moved to Nashville to help build Third Man Records with Jack White, talks about the karmic weight of leaving a city that shaped everything he became.
Not everyone left. Some stayed because they couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Some came back because the stamp Detroit left on them was stronger than the distance. Hanif traces all of this through the lens of the Great Migration — what it costs to leave a place, and what it costs to stay.
This one is about the pull of home, and everyone who has ever felt it.
CHAPTERS
00:30 - The Episode Detroit Couldn't Contain
01:37 - The Great Migration and What It Costs to Leave
02:00 - Berry Gordy IV: Growing Up at Motown and the Move to LA
09:16 - House Shoes: Detroit Felt Like a Coffin
10:36 - Waajeed: Nine Years Away and Why He Came Back
16:47 - Ben Blackwell, Jack White, and the Nashville Decision
21:44 - Detroit's Stamp Never Fades
LINKS
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@LivingfortheCityPod Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5KYTveuTY4nydCKG8yTxjJ?si=c184740e2d9f43b5 Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-for-the-city/id1895831267
Stay connected! Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecitypod/
TAGS / KEYWORDS
Living for the City, Living for the City podcast, Hanif Abdurraqib, Detroit music history, Detroit musicians, leaving Detroit, Berry Gordy, Motown history, Motown Los Angeles, House Shoes, Waajeed, Ben Blackwell, Third Man Records, Jack White, Nashville, J Dilla, Proof D12, Nasan, Detroit hip hop, Detroit Great Migration, Detroit migration, Detroit vs everybody, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin, Eminem, Detroit music scene, Detroit culture, Detroit identity, music and place, artists and home, Side Stage Network, Live Nation podcast, music podcast, Detroit culture, music history podcast, 2025 podcast

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25min

FAQs about Living for the City:

How many episodes does Living for the City have?

The podcast currently has 16 episodes available.