Jersey club (originally called Brick City club[) is a style of electronic club music that originated in Newark, New Jersey, in the late 90s/early 2000s. It was pioneered by DJ Tameil, Mike V, DJ Tim Dolla, and DJ Black Mic aka DaBlackMic of the Brick Bandits crew, who were inspired by Baltimore club's uptempo hybrid of house music and hip hop. Subsequent young producers pushed for the progression of the style in the late 2000s, bringing it to global audiences.]
Similarly to its Baltimore influences, Jersey club is an aggressive style defined by its fast, “bouncy” groove at tempos near 130–140 BPM,[ It is often accompanied by frenetic, competitive dances which have gained global popularity through viral videos.][
]
Style and characteristics
Jersey club has been described as a "fast and aggressive dance music" with roots in the Baltimore club scene's fusion of house music and hip hop.[ The distinctive "bounciness" of the style is a result of its triplet percussive pattern, often credited to Tapp's "Dikkontrol."][
]
Producers make use of "big kick drum triplets and vocal clips that call out dances, or chopped samples from top rap music and R&B tracks," and construct the tracks on "anything from jog shuttle MP3 controllers to and Serato."[ Brick Bandits member Dirty South Joe noted that "vocals are chopped, fragmented and layered over heavy bass kicks to deconstruct the source material, and rework it for the dance floor."]
History
Origins: 1999–2002
Club or house music has a long history in Newark, home to the older New Jersey sound electronic genre. Chicago house was popular in Newark's 1990s club scene, where it was referred to generically by some as "club music."[ Other styles such as urban club and Juke house were also played.][ Tameil did not put artist names on his mixes, making it difficult for other Jersey producers to identify his sources.][ He began playing Baltimore records at teen parties and clubs in the downtown Newark area.]
Tameil was among the first Jersey artists to produce his own club tracks in 2001 with the Dat Butt EP, released on his own label Anthrax Records.[ A week later the Newark group The OG's also self-released an EP titled Official Ghetto Style.][ Tameil began to burn his own CDs and sold them on Broad Street in Newark. Around this time, DJs Tim Dolla and Mike V also began producing their own club tracks as the Brick Bandits to challenge Tameil's monopoly on the market.][ The two parties initially feuded but Tameil later joined the group,][ They released popular mixtapes which featured both club and house tracks.][ Club parties, hosted primarily in and banquet halls, began emerging in Newark and surrounding suburbs such as East Orange and Irvington.][ Despite violence in the city, parties thrown by the Brick Bandits or at the Branch Brook Skating Rink were known to be Safe space for kids.][
]
Regional development: 2003–2009
Many young Newark producers soon began leaving for college or employment, causing there to be a temporary drought of producers around 2003 but spreading the style to other locations.[ Meanwhile, Tameil, Dolla, and Mike V were utilizing Acid Pro, a digital audio workstation that remains popular with Jersey club producers, to create music and support themselves.][ Around 2005, a younger generation began to emerge alongside these older producers, with groups like the Partyhoppers of Elizabeth, New Jersey, initially dissing and then joining the Brick Bandits.][ Around this time, the name of the genre changed to "Jersey club" to account for its spread beyond Newark, as increasingly popularity on college campuses and the success of Baltimore club raised the scene's profile on the Internet, particularly through Myspace.][
]
Around this time, the Jersey style drifted away from the Baltimore template and its palette became more distinctive as younger producer-DJs such as Nadus, Sliink, Jayhood, and R3LL began receiving recognition.[ R3LL, then a high school student, became known as a promoter of parties and later spread the music to college campuses in North Jersey.][ 2008 also gave birth to the first rapping on club beats when Newark's Unicorn151 collaborated with Baltimore's DJ K-Swift via Myspace for the song "Tote It Remix"][ Around this time, the scene shifted toward competitive dancing and battling became a central element inspired by DJ Fresh's "Get Silly,"][ Tim Dolla produced a hit track called "Swing Dat" in reference to the popular dance move, and subsequent dance tracks like DJ Fresh's "Get Silly" and Jayhood's "Patty Cake" and DJ Tone Dafire Marshal's "She Gotta Donkey" & "Get Downtown" went viral via YouTube.][
]
International attention: 2019–present
By 2010, electronic music artists from other scenes were drawing influence from the Jersey club sound, including Norwegian producers Cashmere Cat and Lido; LA club producers; "festival trap" and EDM producers with the support of Mad Decent and Skrillex; and dance artists such as Brenmar and the Night Slugs label roster.[ Concerns about appropriation of the style have become prevalent, with privileged outsiders coopting the sound to get bookings.][ R&B singer Ciara, in her comeback single "Level Up," uses a beat structure that is similar to that which is used in Jersey club music.]
The style and its direct derivatives have become known on the internet due to music sharing websites and social media such as SoundCloud, YouTube, Vine and Dubsmash across the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.[ When Uniiqu3 began DJing in 2009 at age 18, she was likely the only female DJ in the scene; today, other female producers such as Kayy Drizz and So Dellirious are also present.][ In 2019, Uniiqu3 began the PBNJ party series bringing together club artists from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Jersey.]
In 2019, Jersey club artist Unicorn151 aka Killa Kherk Cobain's song "It's Time" shifted the Jersey club sound into the Hip hop mainstream after being debuted at the 2019 Summer Jam Concert by WQHT DJ Enuff.
TikTok and international adoption: 2020–present
Jersey club artist Cookiee Kawaii's song "Vibe" was a 2020 viral sensation, sparking worldwide fanfare on the social media app TikTok.
In September 2021, Jersey club producer and DJ Uniiqu3 had her breakthrough single "Microdosing" used to Soundtrack Versace x Fendi "Fendaci"
In 2022, Drake released his seventh studio album Honestly, Nevermind which contains the song "Currents", which was heavily influenced by Jersey club music and features the characteristic "Some Cut" bed squeak sample. The track "Sticky" uses the Baltimore Club five beat bass drum pattern.
In 2022, Lil Uzi Vert dropped their viral Jersey Club song "Just Wanna Rock" which went viral all over Social media, including TikTok and Twitter and has since charted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Jersey club rap
Jersey club rap is a fusion genre of hip-hop and Jersey club music.
The years between 2018 and 2020 were pivotal to the resurgence in popularity of Jersey club music as, for the first time ever, Jersey artists (rappers and singers) began making original rap songs using Jersey club-styled beats. East Orange rapper Unicorn151 aka Killa Kherk Cobain, Irvington singer Cookiee Kawaii, and Newark producer/DJ/artist Uniiqu3 began to format Jersey club-styled beats into song format using their own vocals and lyrics for verses, hooks, and bridges. Morphing Jersey Club into this sample-free, lyric infused song format now allowed radio stations like WQHT, WHTZ, WWPR-FM, and Sirius XM to play these records in regular rotation with Hip-Hop, R&B, Top 40, etc. This allowed Jersey Club music to gain a much wider audience. Where Jersey Club music was originally pioneered, produced, and created by the producers and the DJ's, the years 2018 - 2020 saw the emergence of the first ever Jersey Club "Artists".
Unicorn151 aka Killa Kherk Cobain alongside producers Ace Mula and DJ Fade began experimenting with a new sound for Jersey Club music in 2018. While much of the Jersey Club music being created catered to dancers and children, Unicorn151, Ace Mula, and DJ Fade began producing songs that catered to their gangsta rap fans. Simultaneously in neighboring Brooklyn, the Brooklyn drill sound of Pop Smoke, Fivio Foreign, and 22Gz was also becoming a worldwide phenomena, which naturally trickled its influence and sound to the neighboring boroughs of NYC and nearby New Jersey. DJ Fade and Unicorn, through mutual friends at the radio stations, were able to collaborate with these Brooklyn drill rappers to produce Jersey Club remixes for many popular Brooklyn drill artists. While the DJ Fade and Unicorn duo, known as Jersey Gods, were the first to fuse both sounds, these songs were not yet considered Jersey Drill, but rather Jersey Club mixes of Brooklyn drill and UK drill.
In 2019 Ace Mula was commissioned to produce Jersey Club beats for Unicorn151 aka Killa Kherk Cobain to rap over. Ace Mula's beats were specifically tailored for Trap music, Drill music, and Gangsta rap, which allowed Unicorn151 to maintain his natural rap cadence, while the beats switched between trap, drill, and Jersey club beats throughout the songs. This specific usage of Brooklyn drill inspired production on top of Jersey club beat patterns gave each record a distinct sound that could easily be identified as having origins in New Jersey. These newfound Jersey club rap records inspired many rappers in Newark and the surrounding areas to embrace their homegrown sound and begin rapping on beats infused with Unicorn151 and Ace Mula's signature Jersey club sound.
In 2020, PBS visited Newark for a documentary to interview Uniiqu3, Unicorn151 aka Killa Kherk Cobain, DJ Fade, and DJ Tameil for an in-depth segment detailing the newest evolutions of Jersey Club music and this new generation of Jersey Club Artists.
In 2021, Newark-based Jersey club rapper Bandmanrill released a Instagram via Instagram and TikTok where he joked about rapping Drill music lyrics over a Jersey club beat. The skit went viral as fans took an immediate liking to Bandmanrill's drill-like flow, cadence, and lyrics over the Jersey Club beat. Bandmanrill went on to turn his skit into the full length single and video titled "HeartBroken"
Popular New Jersey Drill music artists include Unicorn151 aka Killa Kherk Cobain, MBM Franko, Bandmanrill, Ib Mattic, Daidough, and Baby ATM.
Dance culture
Strong emphasis on dance accompaniment is a major element in Jersey club culture, as evidenced by performances at Jersey club-centric events, including Essex County's Highlights Festival held annually in the summer.
The 2016 Running Man Challenge, a viral video in which participants filmed and shared short clips of themselves performing a dance resembling running to the 1996 song "My Boo," was based on well-known Jersey club moves. The original videos were posted on Vine by high school students in Newark-adjacent Hillside.
Official Historical Recognition
In October of 2025 an official historical marker for Jersey Club music was approved by the State of New Jersey at the Branch Brook Park Roller Skating Rink in Newark, NJ. This historical marker recognizes the genre's origins and honors two of Jersey Club Music's pioneers: DJ Tameil and Unicorn151, for their contributions to the genre's development and globalization
See also
-
Baltimore club
-
Deconstructed club
-
New Jersey sound (1980s era house music with influences from Newark gospel and dance music)
-
North to Shore Festival (Newark music festival)
-
James Moody Jazz Festival (Newark music festival)
-
Halsey Street (independent small-scale entertainment and retail strip in Newark)
