Introducing Frontyard’s oral history series—first one with @qooldjmarv !!
Marv discusses his come up as a young DJ in ‘90s New York City, the people and places which made that era special, and how the club scene has changed since.
From hanging out at WKCR to opening for artists like Prince and Erykah Badu at legendary venues, Marv shares his memories. He also critiques the shift toward profit-maximizing practices like bottle service, and its impact on club culture and community.
Read/watch our interview with Marv at https://frontyard.fm/qool-dj-marv
More soon 🪩
Family! We have a beautiful event hosted by some good friends of the frontyard to share, come hang!
What did/does Black Power sound like in Oakland, CA? What does gentrification sound like to Black people in Washington, DC? What can deep listening to the sonic lives and politics of Black communities in these cities amplify about struggles over urban space in New York? Join us @rodeo.bk from 7-10pm on Tuesday, April 28th to find out!
Using the dynamic format of a collaborative book talk and listening party, authors Allie Martin and Alex Werth will put the changing sounds, spatial politics, and expressions of Black life of DC and Oakland in dialogue with each other. They will go back-to-back—or “B2B” in DJ culture—swapping music and sound recordings as audible portals into the histories of Black cultural production and politics within and across these cities. The talk will be followed by a response and audience Q&A with Tara Duvivier. The event will then turn into an after party with beats by @biggiemaules and a book signing with @thewordischange .
Allie Martin (@alliejrmartin ) is an ethnomusicologist and the author of “Intersectional Listening: Gentrification and Black Sonic Life in Washington, DC” (Oxford University Press, 2025). She is an Assistant Professor of Music at Dartmouth College.
Alex Werth (@soundingsasha ) is an urban geographer and the author of “On Loop: Black Sonic Politics in Oakland” (@uc_press , 2025). He is a DJ and movement researcher for tenants’ rights and housing justice.
Tara Duvivier (@djtaranyc ) is an urban planner and DJ from New York City. She is an Associate Professor at both Pratt Institute and Hunter College and works on a range of land-use and planning initiatives in partnership with community-based groups as a Senior Planner for Pratt Center for Community Development.
Last night’s First Fridays, featuring Frontyard FM and opened by the Voodis Collective, was nothing short of a jamboree of instrumentation, voice, blends, and style. The groovy and serene opening by Voodis served as a launching pad for the vibrant, shape-shifting set from Frontyard, where different collective members presented vignettes of their personal writing, singing, compositions, and rapping bridging a connective tissue of musical influence and collaboration.
Artists Against Apartheid was honored to host the evening and bring together artists and community members on the basis of music and art as a site of possibility—creative possibility, a lens through which to better create the world we all know we deserve. A world where all oppressed people can achieve freedom and sovereignty, from international struggles to right here at home. Building this world of possibilities can only happen when people are poised to make it happen, when people are organized to change our conditions.
The evening ended with a call to action for all artists, cultural workers, and everyone, to join our upcoming political education course: 🖌️The Artist Must Take Sides📚, a survey and study of revolutionary artists who have been part of the movement paving a way forward to the world we know we deserve: a world rid of the absurdities of capitalist exploitation, a world we will create.
🔗 Sign up at: peoplesforum.org/takesides & see you at the next First Fridays!
🎧 FIRST FRIDAYS: FRONTYARD FM
💫 Join us on Friday, April 3 at 7:00PM for First Fridays at the People’s Forum featuring @frontyard.fm
🗓️ Friday, April 3, 2026
📍 The People’s Forum (320 W 37th St, Manhattan)
⏱️ Doors: 7:00 PM | Show: 7:30 PM
🔗 Tickets at the link in bio
ℹ️ Frontyard FM is a grassroots music and community organization located in Brooklyn, NY since 2024. As a collective of artists, they mix live performance with DJing, spanning a range of genres including R&B, soul, reggae, hip-hop, jazz and house, with resident artists Stav, Jennora, Osiris, Jodí, Isa Tariq, Tallboy, Mick Banks, and DJ Sevenstair. Also featuring special guests Dana and Alden, and Desmond Barrett.
📝 First Fridays at The People’s Forum is a monthly concert series curated and co-presented by Artists Against Apartheid, featuring artists on the cutting edge of culture whose work speaks to the political and social moment. Each show is a live, intimate, and immersive experience—a space where music & art are understood as tools in the struggle for collective liberation.
Happy Valentine’s Day!! ❤️💌💐🫂 We made you a playlist of some of our favorite Love Songs.. link in the bio!
Hope you enjoy, and remember to tell your people how much you love them!! Much much love from the Frontyard to You ❤️🌍
🚨❤️!!! SAVE THE REP!!! Back and better with @peachfuzz.nyc , and with better weather this time 🚨❤️
Come thru on February 27th to dance to bumping tunes spun by our amazing DJs, and to support @therepmusiccafe in keeping the doors open to their beloved, much needed community space!
DJ Sets from:
@donis.bk
Frontyard FM ft. @eastariq@chronicles_650@idktallboy@quiinnette@qooldjmarv@tylerkpakpo@brooklynterryef
LIVE Performance from @_thebandtba_
📍The REP Music Cafe
450 Nostrand Ave
8PM-3AM
21+
*Open Bar 9-10pm 🥂*
Sponsored by @tentoonerum
Tix are on a $10-$50 sliding scale with all proceeds going to The REP❤️ Link in bio!
If you want to support outside of ticket sales, you can donate directly at this link: /Helptherep
MUCH LOVE, SEE YOU THERE
🪩💃🏽🕺🏽❤️🥂🚨🏠🫂
