Rick at his shop Vibes in Detroit, April 2008
I’m going to save the whole story for a forthcoming “Record Store Memories” post, but I first met Rick Wilhite in person at his shop Vibes all the way back in May 2004. Ever since that day he has been one of the biggest inspirations for me in all of house music. I’ve brought him to Pittsburgh a number of times over the last ten years, and he was also one of our guests at The Summit in Detroit this year. He’s both a top notch DJ and a good dude.
I truly appreciate people who try to participate in house music on every level and in every way, and Rick is one of the preeminent cats in this regard. He owned an awesome house music record store. He’s been DJing in Detroit for 30+ years and now DJs all over the world. He’s been a promoter of house music events in Detroit for decades. He has helmed many dope compilations for a variety of labels. He’s a sick producer of wild ass lofi house music.
This last part is what forced my hand to make this post. While not exactly prolific in terms of number of releases, damn near every track Rick has released is an underground gem. His music is rough and rugged, maintaining both the mechanical edge of techno and the soulful vibes of deep house in each of his tracks. Because of this, it’s always a good day when a new release of his comes out. A recent compilation 12” by the Monday Night Underground crew features a new track by Rick called “Mind Control” alongside two classics by Terrence Parker and Ron Allen. “Mind Control” is a nasty beast, more synthed out, discordant, and techy than most of his output. This is the kind of music Detroit used to be famous for, loopy, repetitive techno that still maintains its humanity. This one track is maybe a bit of a tease for this style, though the other more soulful house and garage jams are very lovely in their own right. Thankfully Rick also has his newest record Godson IV coming soon on Moodymann’s Mahogani label, and it contains maybe my favorite track of his so far.
Godson IV is a double pack that contains four songs, and each is an example of serious Detroit house music. “Xanadu 3.0” kicks things off on the A side, and for me it is the highlight of Rick’s discography so far. A grinding beat propels the track while jazzy Rhodes chords set a more somber mood. Ghostly dub hits echo in the background while a grating synth shriek plays over and over. There’s really not a ton of things happening but the magic is in the interplay of the elements and the confidence necessary to let the parts breathe. This is the essence of mimimalism: there is nothing more than is needed and everything is in its right place.
Following up such a great track might be difficult for most, but on the B side Rick dives right back into funky minimal territory with “Sonar Funk”. Moving at a pace and with drive more commonly associated with techno, the hypnotic groove establishes a stark feeling that is then juxtaposed with the flutes and electric pianos that drop in to smooth things out. They’re never present for long, just enough time to shine down on the dancefloor like the sun peeking through angry storm clouds. It is remarkable how much emotion can be contained in such small gestures.
On the second record Rick takes his skills and applies them to tracks made by others. First up is Moodymann’s “Technologystolemyvinyl (Godson’s Cosmic Soup Mix)”. This appears to be a totally different live take of this jam with guest musicians including Amp and Bubz Fiddler amongst others. The familiar start and stop pattern is still there but this time augmented with live deep jazzy instrumental passages, solos, and sick drum rolls. The dynamics between the loud and quiet sections are striking and very effective. It’s hard for me to imagine this not being a huge dancefloor killer for a lot of DJs as the sound is HUGE and to my ears at least it is a far superior track to the original.
Finally we have Folson & Tate’s “Is It Because I’m Black (Godsons Flip Mix)” which uses vocals samples/interpolated from the classic Syl Johnson jam. Laid back funky bass and keys provide the foundation of the track as the vocal samples provide the foreground of what comes off as a mix of blues and deep house. A really beautiful late night killer to round out what I consider to be an instant classic release.
It’s really quite momentous to have so much new material from Rick at one time, only rivaled by the release of his album all the way back in 2011. It’s good to see that he has been stepping up his game in the interim.