On the night of a snowstorm in Detroit this January, I slid across icy roads like Connor McDavid in a rental car to hit up a HiTech DJ set. Not too many others made it out, but the ghettotech group—MCs and producers Milf Melly, King Milo, and 47 Chops—were behind the boards in their hometown shouting dancefloor commands and flicking knobs like it was one of those storied Detroit club nights. I wandered the renovated warehouse-turned-venue as partygoers did their own thing: Their homies jitted in front of the decks, a couple gently grinded against a column, an old head two-stepped with a drink in his hand, a double date faced off on the pool table. The trio’s new album, HONEYPAQQ Vol. 1, feels like that: a night spent overhearing dancefloor pleas, lovers’ arguments, and drunk jokes at a basement party where everyone knows each other.
True to the low-stakes turn-up spirit of ghettotech, a fast, hyperlocal genre of dance music born decades ago out of strands of Detroit DJ culture (Jeff Mills, The New Dance Show, countless radio and underground DJs) and imported regional club music (Miami bass eroticism, Chicago house soul), HiTech’s superpower is that they don’t do too much. The guys layer sitcom-plot situations and lusty party commentary over their explosion of ticking hi-hats, booty-poppin’ bass, and cut-up vocals. On “Shadowrealm,” a high-energy techno blur featuring ZelooperZ, there’s a date at a Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles that I can only assume is taking place at 4 a.m. after the club. On “Empty Bus Stop,” a girl catches their eye at the function and out come the pitched-down intrusive thoughts: “Do you want some Casamigos?” (reasonable offer), “Or do you want some head?” (coming on strong). They make you itch for a sloppy night of your own.
Ghettotech is a DJ’s and producer’s genre and HiTech’s work reflects that. Similar to other regional dance music genres, like bounce or juke, the drum patterns and synths are often so familiar that the beats are more about the tiny details a DJ might come up with on the fly during a set: the faded laser beams in the euphoric “Spank!,” the “ayyys” in the second half of “Empty Bus Stop” that instantly turn the groove into a dance battle, or the brief few seconds of buffering that interrupt the twerk romance of “Norf Cold 304’s.” That impulsive streak carries over to the guests. Milfie’s casual speak-sing on “Audishawty” sounds like she was just hanging out and happened to lay down some vocals. Rob Apollo drops by “Girl U So Fine” to land the tape’s funniest line: “Busting through that IUD, I’m tryna’ make a miracle.” That feeling of friends partying and making music to make the partying even better is what HiTech is all about.
HONEYPAQQ Vol. 1 doesn’t hit quite as hard as their 2023 breakout tape Détwat did. In the last few years more Detroiters have dipped a toe into ghettotech—for example, Black Milk, J.U.S., and Lelo—but Détwat caught me off guard because of how HiTech went all-out with their funny, nasty, funky update of a homegrown genre. It’s a hard feeling to replicate, especially considering that HONEYPAQQ Vol. 1 feels tamer. No relationship drama on this tape is as hilariously specific as “Whyyoufuggmyopps,” though I get a kick out of “Queenbootyathenaaphrodite” where, with tinny vocals that resemble an old Memphis rap cassette, they get into a back-and-forth on the dancefloor: “Shakin’ ass and I still ain’t let that nigga hit/Let a nigga hit, yeah, let a nigga hit, yeah.” And there’s nothing as outrageous as “Pocketpussy” (not much is), but the smooth “Take Yo Panties Off” is like PG-13 2 Live Crew. But who wants PG-13 2 Live Crew? If you’re gonna be dirty, be fuckin’ dirty. Make my skin crawl. Still, that softening might be the reality of a group on a mission to take its intimate club nights from underground raves in Detroit to stages as big and corporate as Coachella.
