BIG WEPA MUSIC STUDIOS DROPS “HOUSE OF THE CITY,” A 12-TRACK HOUSE MUSIC LOVE LETTER TO NYC DURING NYCC

New York Comic Con week doesn’t begin when somebody scans your badge at the Javits Center. If you know New York, you already know that shit starts way before you ever touch the convention floor. It’s the train pulling into the station, that first blast of October air when you hit the street, yellow cabs fighting through Midtown traffic, people carrying comics, cameras, bags and costumes down avenues that were absolutely not designed for this many damn people at once. Creators are running late, fans are running everywhere, music is coming out of cars, somebody is arguing on the corner, somebody else is trying to sell you something, and somehow all of it makes perfect sense because this is New York.

That’s the feeling Big WEPA Music Studios wanted to capture with HOUSE OF THE CITY: NYC October Sessions, a 12-track instrumental house project built around the entire experience of New York during convention week. This isn’t just about what happens inside Javits. I wanted the soundtrack for everything around it too, from that first ride into Manhattan to the madness outside the convention, the lights coming on after dark, the clubs, the blocks, the late-night train rides and that exhausted Sunday trip home when your feet are screaming but you’re already thinking about doing the whole damn thing again.

Musically, we’re digging into house music with some history behind it. New York house, Chicago house, deep house, soulful house, jackin’ grooves, Latin percussion, disco and that dirty warehouse shit where the groove does the heavy lifting. I’m talking about music that makes people MOVE. Warm bass, hard drums, percussion with actual life in it, soulful keys and melodies that can take you somewhere without needing fifty unnecessary drops or some corny gimmick every sixteen bars. The DNA comes from the house music that built dance floors and communities, but we’re running that through Big WEPA’s Puerto Rican soul and New York attitude.

The album opens with “The City Just Woke Up” before sliding into “Javits After Dark,” and right there you get the idea of what we’re doing. The city itself is part of the record. “House From The Block” brings the neighborhood flavor with more Latin percussion and that uptown energy, while “Train To 34th” is exactly what the name suggests: you’re underground, you’re headed toward Manhattan and you can feel the weekend getting closer with every stop.

By the time “Badge On, Game On” kicks in, we’re officially inside convention mode. Anybody who has done NYCC knows that feeling when you finally get through the doors and suddenly everything is happening at once. “October Lights” catches the other side of that experience, when you finally step back outside and Manhattan has changed on you. The sun is gone, the buildings are glowing, you’re tired as hell, but New York somehow convinces your body that the night is just getting started.

That’s where the album starts getting grimier. “Canal Street 2:17 AM” lives in that part of the night where the original plan disappeared about three hours ago and somehow nobody is ready to go home. “Boogie On 42nd” reaches back toward New York’s dance-floor history with a little more funk in its walk, while “Borough Pressure” strips things down and lets the drums and percussion beat the hell out of the room. I wanted that stretch of the album to feel sweaty, underground and slightly reckless because New York after midnight shouldn’t sound polite.

Then we hit “Last Train, No Sleep,” where the adrenaline finally starts fighting the exhaustion. It’s deeper, warmer and more reflective, but we’re not finished yet because track eleven is “WEPA IN THE WAREHOUSE.” That’s where Big WEPA really plants the flag on this project. NYC house attitude, Chicago foundations, Puerto Rican percussion, dirty organ, congas, timbales, bass and that WEH-PAH energy running through the room. Not some tropical-house caricature either. I wanted the percussion to feel like it belongs there because this culture has always been part of New York’s musical bloodstream.

The record closes with “Sunday, City Still Moving,” and anybody who has survived an entire NYCC weekend should understand that one immediately. You’re walking away from Javits with destroyed feet, bags cutting into both hands, your voice is halfway gone and your body is asking what the hell you just did to it, but you’re still looking around at Manhattan thinking, “Damn, it’s over already?” That’s the emotion I wanted at the end because the convention may be finished, but New York couldn’t care less. The trains are still moving, the lights are still on, somebody’s party is just beginning and the city keeps doing what the city does.

HOUSE OF THE CITY: NYC October Sessions runs through “The City Just Woke Up,” “Javits After Dark,” “House From The Block,” “Train To 34th,” “Badge On, Game On,” “October Lights,” “Canal Street 2:17 AM,” “Boogie On 42nd,” “Borough Pressure,” “Last Train, No Sleep,” “WEPA IN THE WAREHOUSE” and “Sunday, City Still Moving.” Twelve tracks, one weekend and one city providing enough personality for the whole damn album.

This project is also another piece of what we’re building with Big WEPA Music Studios. The goal isn’t to chase whatever sound happens to be hot this week. We’re taking Puerto Rican soul, New York grit, hip-hop mentality, house history, live percussion and everything else that raised us musically and seeing where we can take it next. HOUSE OF THE CITY is our love letter to New York in October, to house music and to that beautiful madness surrounding Comic Con week. Put the headphones on, turn the shit UP and we’ll see y’all in the city.

WEPA!

HOUSE OF THE CITY is an independent Big WEPA Music Studios project inspired by New York City and convention-week culture. Big WEPA Music Studios and Comic Crusaders are not affiliated with or endorsed by New York Comic Con or ReedPop.