The Pop Corporation

Reacting to contemporary life in 80s America, referencing Alvin Toffler’s ‘The Third Wave’ book, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May invented techno. They were the Belleville Three.

Alongside them, Eddie Fowlkes, Blake Baxter, James Pennington and others were at the forefront of the first flush of Techno.

Everyone knows this already. Anyone with even the mildest interest in dance music knows where it came from.

However, over the years, Germany has been vying to be the poster child for Techno, and obviously, the scene is gigantic there but there’s been a shift in recent times.

Not too long ago, Berlin was enamoured with Detroit and paid it’s dues, but since Berlin corned the hipster tourism market, gave us the bloated Berghain which dubbed itself ‘the world capital of techno’, things have got sticky.

And so, to Germany’s culture ministry and Unesco commission who have added Berlin’s techno scene to the country’s list of intangible cultural heritage, and everyone else just has sparkling dance music as a result, including the place it was invented.

Lutz Leichsenring, an executive member of Clubcommission’s board, says: “The decision will help us ensure that club culture is recognised as a valuable sector worthy of protection and support.”

This move came on the back of Jamaica getting a nod from Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage crew, because reggae = Jamaica.

And sure, we’re not for one second suggesting that Berlin doesn’t have techno for its breakfast, dinner and tea, but there’s been zero moves to acknowledge those who pioneered the movement in the first place.

Techno is to Detroit what hip hop is to New York, and house to Chicago. Those three cities would redefine what it was to go clubbing.

Scratch that – they would redefine popular music worldwide!

In their press release, note how the German Commission conveniently forget to mention those that came first, noting that techno “is based on various musical developments” and “emerged” from “DJ culture” to become “the soundtrack of the spirit of optimism after reunification.”

Resident Advisor wrote on the topic: “When it comes to the plight of African Americans, the UNESCO fiasco is just another slight in a long line of injustices. Again and again, things that are first considered low brow and of low intellectual substance are later celebrated—as soon as they’re out of Black hands.”

And given that so many Berlin techno institutions are currently in such hot water for actively stamping down on any DJ who shows support for those being bombed in Gaza, this all feels like an incredibly convenient PR move to distract clubland from very insidious moves indeed.

Keep an eye on this. And keep championing the real innovators.