Honey Dijon’s DJ sets are life-giving experiences, each head-turning beat and tempo shift primed for gathering on the dancefloor in communal euphoria. The Chicago-raised house producer has spent decades honing her style behind the decks, a fact Beyoncé duly noted when she recruited Dijon to contribute to this year’s club-ready Renaissance. The music on Dijon’s solo debut, 2017’s The Best of Both Worlds, reaffirmed her curatorial expertise, running from hypnotic deep house to swaggering ballroom with a bevy of guest artists in tow. Follow-up Black Girl Magic expands her vision of eclectic house music built for both the club and the afters. It’s Dijon’s most vivid release yet, jolting and joyous in equal measure as it offers up a passionate expression of Black queer joy.
Black Girl Magic has the good-natured feel of a family affair, filled out with a wide circle of new and familiar collaborators. On the standout “Work,” a strutting jazz-house cut, she recruits Los Angeles singer-songwriters Dave Giles II and Cor.Ece alongside Chicago hip-house legend Mike Dunn; its downpitched hook, decorated with rippling horns, is immediately irresistible. She teams up with longtime co-producer Luke Solomon on several songs, including the satiny “In the Club,” which recasts rap icon Eve in an inspired new role as a house diva over springing synths and a driving kick drum. The pace is often brisk and uptempo, a soundtrack to a decadent night out at a club of Dijon’s own making that weaves messages of community and resilience into each song. When Brazilian drag star Pabllo Vittar and singer Urias break into chants on the disco-laced “Everybody,” you can practically hear the glee and camaraderie radiating through their smiles.
The album’s buoyant music is tempered with lyrics that focus on finding love, whether for yourself or someone else. She lowers things to a simmer on “It’s Quiet Now,” where luminous synth pads cast an air of seduction as Toronto singer Dope Earth Alien summons the strength to break off a toxic relationship: “We try our best to love but all we do is fight,” she chants during the ascendant bridge. “Freedom has a space in the song that someday you and I will write.” Even when Dijon’s music reaches for a gooier sentiment of positivity, she charges it with deeper impact: “Love is a state of mind/It will bring us all together,” singer Ramona Renea preaches on “Love Is a State of Mind” against a spare stomp and sauntering synths. The rudimentary backdrop amplifies the unvarnished appeal of Renea’s affirming words.
Dijon is in her element here, eager to expand house music’s limits. For every pulse-racing dance breakdown, there’s a surprise: “Show Me Some Love” thumps with smoky energy, rooted by a heavy bassline, warped keys, and the mellow vocals of Channel Tres, who provides a laidback foil for Dijon’s punchy production. The song is another prismatic example of the way Dijon’s productions access the buzzy, late-night feeling when affection and tenderness flow as freely as the music pumping from the speakers. “DJ love helped me survive,” the spoken-word artist Kameelah Waheed says over sparse piano chords on the album’s intro, “Love Is.” With Black Girl Magic, Dijon confers the vibrancy of that love to everyone in the room.
