The DJ Takeover is a program for listeners to discover their favorite artist's favorite artists, working to foster connection to the music and makers inside and outside our city. For the entire hour, we go down the rabbit hole of stories from their past, experiences of the present and goals for the future.
My guest on this DJ Takeover can do it all: sing, act, organize, advocate and solve copious varieties of Rubik's Cubes, all while serving as the programming director of Radio Milwaukee’s HYFIN.
Renaissance woman Element Everest-Blanks brought that spirit of exquisite versatility to this Takeover and will put it out there again at the third annual HYFIN Anti-Gala next Thursday, Aug. 14. Celebrating the event’s Harlem Renaissance theme, Element put together a playlist from her personal catalog of favorites and contemporary tracks inspired by the groundbreaking jazz, blues and swing artists of 1920s Harlem.
If you have yet to experience a HYFN Anti-Gala, you may be wondering: What is it? A quicker answer can be found to the question: What isn’t it?
On Aug. 14, The Fitzgerald will house live music, performances, self-expression through fashion, carefully crafted dishes and cocktails, and conversations with Milwaukee’s creative community, entrepreneurs and cultural leaders. As proceeds go to support the public-media programming at Radio Milwaukee, the Anti-Gala supports the journey of Black makers and musicians from the past who laid a path for Milwaukee’s cultural renaissance of the present.
Any time I sit down with Element, I have a deeper pride for Milwaukee, I learn more than I can remember, and I gain faith in the cultural and artistic future of our city — a future Element works tirelessly to build. Our conversation weaved through:
- Histories of the early DIY past of Bronzeville.
- Jazz and brass in pop, rock, R&B and rap.
- The possibility of authenticity in spaces that traditionally force posturing.
- The truth that celebrating Blackness is not anti-white, but rather acknowledging the work of Black creatives and their allies that have allowed for generations of art to exist.
To enjoy this celebration, uplift the pillars of culture, entrepreneurship, storytelling and education HYFIN lives by year round, and support Radio Milwaukee at a time when national funding for public media has been cut, get your tickets to the Anti-Gala right now on the event page.
DJ Takeover: Element Everest-Blanks playlist
- Little Simz, “Lion”
- Janelle Monae, “Tightrope”
- Snoh Aalegra, “Whoa”
- Tianna Esperanza, “Buy You A New Attitude”
- Samara Cyn & Smino, “Brand New Teeth”
- Amy Winehouse, “Stronger Than Me”
- Madison McFerrin, “I Don't”
- Ella Fitzgerald, “My Cousin in Milwaukee”
- Grace Weber, “Thru The Fire”
