Dance music culture is built on the values of love, acceptance, and inclusivity, and throughout the culture’s evolution, there have been leaders who embody those values through their music.
DJ Susan is one of those leaders, and his charting releases along with his grassroots record label, Hood Politics Records, both stem from his mission to lift up the scene and the people in it.
“We don’t rise alone. We rise by lifting others, and the more we support each other the more it’ll create a bigger and more prosperous space for everybody involved in this game,” says DJ Susan. Real name Steven Glathe.
With this philosophy as a motivator, Glathe is now at the tipping point in his career, seeing the return on investment from all his hard work in nurturing the community he loves.
Glathe started DJing a plethora of musical styles all the way back in 2009, graduating from vinyl to digital. From hip hop to house. With this long, diverse history, he now has the ability to easily manipulate specific sonic qualities within his original iteration of four-on-the-floor beats.
But the common denominator among his releases remains a fiery sense of high energy that encourages people to connect on the dancefloor. Whether the track is raw and bassline-driven or a smoother vocal cut, the feeling is uplifting and just plain fun.
That feeling has led Glathe to land several charting releases including “TALKIN” which peaked at number one on the Beatport Bass House chart and “Secrets” hitting number one on the Tech House Hype chart. The same success is apparent amongst his overall catalog with offerings on impressive labels including Spinnin’ Records and Repopulate Mars.
Simultaneously, Glathe’s energy attracts a wide variety of artists on all sides of his production process. He’s invited house-heads of the next generation like Sherm and Skonka to collaborate while legends like Claude VonStroke and Calvin Harris rinse his tracks to enormous audiences.
Glathe’s philanthropic approach to house music culminates in his self-run homegrown record label, Hood Politics Records, which now sits at #19 on Beatport’s Overall Tech House Labels Chart, listed above legacy imprints like Dirtybrd, Defected, and Big Beat Records.
Glathe has curated over 150 releases since launching the label in 2017, welcoming established artists like John Summit, Max Styler, and Vanilla Ace to the roster along with a squad of exciting newcomers from all over the globe like LA’s BINGEWATCH and the UK’s Brad Wood.
With Hood Politics, Glathe set out to be the label he didn’t get to connect with when he was coming up. A label that will welcome artists into a strong and supportive family, where the goal is nothing more than giving a platform for great music regardless of clout or connections.
True leaders don’t care for clout and connections. They care about love, acceptance, and inclusivity. True leaders built dance music culture, and DJ Susan is building something big. 2022 is already looking big with Glathe signing to Patrick Moxey’s new dance label Helix Records and plenty more releases and major gigs coming soon.
Kaleena Zanders
Armed with supernova vocal prowess and an explosive stage presence, Kaleena Zanders is one of the fastest emerging stars in music. Earning comparisons to ’90s House vocalists like CeCe Peniston and Robin S — and even Whitney Houston — Zanders existence brings the genre back to its queer, Black origins giving passage to those who are sometimes unseen. Her songs usually pack a punch with social messages and upbeat music.
In her short career, Zanders has collaborated with the likes Finneas, Keke Palmer, Pasek and Paul and headlinging dance artists such as AC Slater, Loud Luxury, Breathe Carolina, MoonBoots, Morgan Page, SNBRN to name a few. Zanders has released tracks through the most notable dance labels, including Spinnin’ Records, Ultra Music, Armada Music, Anjunadeep, and DIM MAK. She has taken the mic at major festivals including Coachella, EDC and Snow Globe, and has been highlighted as the cover star for editorial playlists for both Spotify and TIDAL. Her single- “Carry Us,” was one of Billboard’s 40 Best Dance Songs of 2021, one of Forbes top songs of 2021, has had regular support from Danny Howard, Charlie Hedges, and Arielle Free at BBC RADIO 1, and has had support from Diplo’s “Revolution” on Sirius XM.
Zanders has a genuine passion for creating music for TV & film & one of her heartfelt songs, “Stronger Than I’ve Ever Been,” premiered in a Toyota spot during Super Bowl LII. The track scored syncs with the 2018 Winter Olympics, America’s Got Talent, Fox and VH1, among others. It was even featured as the theme for the Women’s US OPEN with Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. And one of her 2021 releases, “Set Me Off,” became the theme song to MLB Network’s High Heat!
In the wake of 2020, Kaleena became committed and vocal about pushing BIPOC artists and queer artists to the forefront in dance music to reclaim the space as their own. For the future, Kaleena Zanders plans to continue to create a space of diversity for others like her & make music that uplifts the world.
