63: ⁠Baltimore is still the engine room of US club music

About this episode

The episode explores the vibrant Baltimore Club music scene and features insights from local artists Kade Young and JIALING.

Some of the most exciting dance music around right now is coming out of Baltimore. Reenergised by a younger generation of artists putting a fresh spin on the Baltimore Club sound, the city is producing stacks of great new records – and we keep hearing dazzled on-the-ground reports from our cool DJ friends (yes, we have them!) about the shows they’ve played there. Kade Young and JIALING are two of the central figures in the city’s new school, known for running events and releasing a stream of club bangers via their label WOE . They had plenty to tell us about why Baltimore is the real engine room of US dance music right now, and why its importance remains undersung. As well as clueing us into the local scene in 2026, they offered an insider perspective on the last 20 years of Baltimore Club. We also managed to record the entire episode without making a joke about The Wire, so well done us. (Come at JIALING, you best not miss.) Before that, for this show’s intro, we offer our recent scene reports: Tom’s trip to see Tony Njoku’s All Our Knives are Always Sharp at the Southbank Centre, and Chal mucking in at the SMUT Press night at the Distillery. We also tackle the elephant in the…

People in this episode

Hosts: Chal Ravens, Tom Lea

Guests: Kade Young, JIALING

Topics covered

• Baltimore Club music
• dance music
• local music scene
• DJ culture
• music events

Keywords

• Baltimore
• club music
• dance music
• Kade Young
• JIALING
• music events
• DJ culture

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: WOE

Books & works: The Wire

Places: Baltimore, Southbank Centre, Distillery

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