Low End Theory was a weekly experimental hip hop and electronic music club night that took place every Wednesday from 2006 to 2018 at The Airliner in

Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California Lincoln Heights is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was originally called "East Los Angeles" from 1873 to 1917. It is a densely populated, mostly Latino and Asian neighborhood. It includes many histori ...

History

"The Low End Theory" is the second studio album by American hip hop group

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

, released on September 24, 1991, by Jive Records. The music venue Low End Theory was founded in 2006 by producer and

Alpha Pup Records Alpha Pup Records is an American independent record label and digital distributor based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Daddy Kev and Danyell Jariel in 2004. ''LA Weekly'' placed it at number 2 on the "Top 10 Most Exciting L.A. Indie ...

label head

Daddy Kev Kevin Marques Moo (born 1974), better known by his stage name Daddy Kev, is an American DJ, Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, record producer and executive from Los Angeles, California. He is the owner of Alpha Pup Records and the founder of Low ...

. As the "epicenter" of L.A.'s instrumental hip hop scene, Low End Theory has become one of the most influential venues for the 'beat music' genre. Long-time resident DJs include

The Gaslamp Killer William Benjamin Bensussen (born November 7, 1982), better known by his stage name The Gaslamp Killer, is an American alternative hip hop producer and DJ based in Los Angeles, California. Career He grew up in San Diego, California, where he beca ...

Nobody Nobody may refer to: * Nobody, an indefinite pronoun Nobody may also refer to: Fictional characters * Nobody (''Kingdom Hearts''), a race of beings in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' video game series *Nobody, a character in the Jim Jarmusch films '' D ...

, and

D-Styles Dave Cuasito (born July 6, 1972), better known by his stage name D-Styles, is a hip hop producer and DJ. He has been a member of Invisibl Skratch Piklz, Beat Junkies, and Third Sight. He has also been a resident DJ of Low End Theory. D-styles i ...

. "L.A.'s monolithic weekly showcase for uncut beat-driven tracks" has been a launchpad for the success of prolific electronic artists such as

The Glitch Mob The Glitch Mob is an American electronic music trio from Los Angeles, California. It consists of edIT (Edward Ma), Boreta (Justin Boreta) and Ooah (Josh Mayer). Chris Martins of '' LA Weekly'' noted that they "have undoubtedly found the largest ...

, Daedelus,

Nosaj Thing Jason W. Chung (born January 27, 1985), better known as Nosaj Thing, is an American artist, record producer, and DJ based in Los Angeles, California. He has produced tracks for Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, Julianna Barwick, and i ...

and

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, Disc jockey, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flyi ...

, who describes the club's humble beginnings as a sort of "producer's lounge". The club night "showcases the links between classic Los Angeles rap and the fractured jazz of

Eric Dolphy Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gai ...

but also demonstrates how artists are using dazzling instrument technologies to upend both of those traditions". Low End Theory has garnered much attention after multiple performances by

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...

, who played for the normal price of ten dollars. "If tickets were left to auction online, they'd bring in enough to fund a state Senate campaign". In 2014, The First Low End Theory Festival was Held at the Echoplex in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The First Festivals Lineup Included

The Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

Invisibl Skratch Piklz The Invisibl Skratch Piklz are an American group of turntablists. The members of the group were originally hip-hop DJs, who were among the pioneers of the turntablism movement in the 1990s; turntablists create musical pieces by mixing sampl ...

, Baths, Daedelus,

Teebs Mtendere Mandowa, better known by his stage name Teebs, is an American record producer and visual artist from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the My Hollow Drum collective. He is also one half of the duo Sons of the Morning. Life and c ...

Jonwayne Jonathan Wayne (born June 5, 1990), better known by his stage name Jonwayne, is an American rapper and record producer. Early life Jonwayne was born in La Habra, California on June 5, 1990. He is a descendant of American Revolutionary War Genera ...

Knxwledge Glen Earl Boothe (born March 8, 1988), professionally known as Knxwledge (pronounced "knowledge"), is an American hip hop record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. Since 2009, he has had over 100 releases via Bandcamp. His ...

Ras G Gregory Shorter Jr. (December 11, 1978 – July 29, 2019), better known by his stage name Ras G, was an American record producer and DJ from Los Angeles, California. He was a co-founder of the record label Poo-Bah Records and was also associated ...

, Dntl, Dibiase,

Mono/Poly Charles E. Dickerson (born February 5, 1987), better known by his stage name Mono/Poly, is a Grammy Award winning electronic music producer from Bakersfield, California. Career Mono/Poly joined the record label Brainfeeder and released the ''Man ...

House Shoes Michael Buchanan, better known as House Shoes, is an American Detroit-born hip hop producer and DJ, who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He served as a producer on albums by Phat Kat, Proof, Elzhi, Pumpkinhead, Marv Won, J Dilla, ...

Kamasi Washington Kamasi Washington (born February 18, 1981) is an American jazz saxophonist, usually playing tenor saxophone. Archived July 9, 2015. Career Washington was born in 1981 and raised in Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of the Academy of ...

Anderson Paak Brandon Paak Anderson (born February 8, 1986), better known by his stage name Anderson .Paak (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and drummer. He released his debut mixtape, ''O.B.E. Vol. 1,'' in 2012 and went on to rel ...

Matthewdavid Matthew David McQueen (born May 20, 1984), better known by his stage name Matthewdavid, is an American record producer and DJ based in Los Angeles, California. He is a co-founder of Leaving Records. He has collaborated with Sun Araw, Dog Bite, and ...

, Elos, Astronautica, and milo along with residents Daddy Kev, Dj Nobody, D Styles, Gaslamp Killer, and

Nocando James McCall (born June 3, 1983), better known by his stage names Nocando and All City Jimmy, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is the 2007 Scribble Jam champion and founder of Hellfyre Club. He is a member of hip hop group ...

. The monthly Low End Theory Podcast began in 2009 and features mixes from a resident DJ and one guest DJ. Since its inception, Low End Theory has expanded to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, performing quarterly in Japan and every now and again in the latter three.

Closure

The final Low End Theory show occurred on August 8, 2018.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low End Theory Music venues in Los Angeles Nightclubs in Los Angeles County, California Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles Music venues completed in 2009 2009 establishments in California