Love and Bmore Music, Unruly Ethics

On Wednesday October 26^th, legendary DJ Scott "Scottie B" Rice visited UB to discuss the ethical challenges of working in the music industry. The event was sponsored by the University of Baltimore's HoffbergerCenter for Professional Ethics. History Professor and author, Joshua Davis, who currently teaches a class on the history of Baltimore music, hosted this historic event. Davis asked the pioneer about his beginnings as a DJ in Baltimore during the late 80s early 90s. Scottie B discussed how music was his outlet growing up, also how he blended house music and hip hop together to help create the sound we know today as “Bmore Club Music”.

Professor Davis' books, as well as his public and oral history work, can be viewed on his website

Scottie B, along with DJs Shawn Caesar and Karizma, founded Unruly Records in the 1996. The local label became the cornerstone for many local DJs and music artist, earning international recognition and defining Baltimore’s culture with an original style of club music.

Bmore club in the early 90s blended not only music together, but also communities. Baltimore is known for having segregated areas throughout the city. The followers of the club music scene were diverse, bringing together people from all walks of life. Imagine a white DJ mixing some amazing melodic sounds together while a black MC is on stage rocking the house, who happens to be a transgender woman named Miss Tony. That’s what the Bmore club music did--it congregated various communities. Club music was the cure for a world where acceptance was desired but limited. For a brief moment, every weekend, people came together and partied. No one was concerned about the race or the sexuality of anyone in attendance; just a catchy hook and strong beat was required. The only concern was that the music pulsated hard enough to remove the possible pain of the club goer’s life while struggling in Baltimore.
Baltimore Club Documentary

 

Bilal Bahar, who is currently a senior at UB, video tapped the event. Bilal is a local music artist, videographer/producer and former TV host of two popular local music shows called B-Filzes and Crushforce TV. Bilal believes that the contributions of local Baltimore music to society have been copied, abandoned, and ignored. He says the culture of music in Baltimore City has been pushed aside. Bilal is passionate about giving back to the community through music. He is the CEO of a Community Foundation called Evolve Community Foundation Inc. and will be graduating with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UB this fall. Bilal is contributing his video work to Langsdale Library in an initiative to preserve Baltimore’s community records.

Bilal's video from the event and other works can be viewed here

The Special Collections department has been actively advocating for the importance of preserving community history. UB is one of few universities locally that has collected twentieth century artifacts about Baltimore and strives to strengthen its service to the community by expanding access and resources related to the history of Baltimore.