The Slow Bounce -By D Wade

If you are reading this article I am going to assume that you already have some sense of what Go-Go is, and the role it has played in DC. Why else would you be reading an article about the evolution of something that you have never heard about? However, for those of you who do not know, here are three things that you need to know: First, Go-Go is a genre of music unique to the Washington Metropolitan area, that started in the 1960’s; Second, Go-Go songs are characterized by their heavy use percussion instruments; and third: Go-Go music is always performed live by a band, no exceptions. Hopefully those three things are enough to suffice your inquires about Go-Go.




Traditional DC Go-Go

The two main beats for go-go are the pocket beat and the bounce beat. The pocket beat is a faster pace like the go-go songs from the 60’s up to the early 2000’s. The bounce beat emphasizes more percussion like slow bounce but is still faster than the slow bounce. Today’s bands use the bounce beat more than ever. The slow bounce is relatively young compared to the two previous beats mentioned but is increasingly becoming the most popular. Younger bands today start their songs off by using the bounce beat but immediately slow bounce their songs.




An interview talking about the origins of Slow Bounce. The first couple of minutes of this is good, after about 2:00 it goes down hill.



The dynamics of the slow bounce is not a completely new concept. In fact you can compare slow bounced go-go to Houston’s chopped & screwed music. However, go-go even when slow bounced is always performed with a live band. To slow bounce a song all a band really does is slow the tempo of a song while putting heavy emphasis on the percussion section. Some bands add bass guitars or horns to their slow bounced songs. Without giving an outright history lesson I believe that you the reader should be able to grasp the concept of the slow bounce. If not the best advice I can give you is to go on Youtube® and listen to slow bounced songs.




An example of a slow bounce transition. You can parallel it to the transitions in moombahton sets.