Black Broadway & DC Culture

From the 1920s through the 1960s, the U Street corridor was the cultural heart of Black America outside Harlem. Duke Ellington grew up at 2129 Ward Place. The Howard Theatre (1910) — opened 24 years before the Apollo — hosted Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, and James Brown.

The 1968 riots after Dr. King's assassination devastated U Street. The neighborhood didn't really recover until the Metro opened in 1991. Today the corridor blends preserved jazz history with a thriving food and nightlife scene.

Go-go was born in DC in the late 1970s when Chuck Brown — the Godfather — fused funk, Latin percussion, and call-and-response into one continuous live groove. 'Bustin' Loose' (1978) is the genre's anthem.

Go-go is officially DC's musical genre (declared by law in 2020) and is fiercely protected by locals. Catch it live at Howard Theatre, The Anthem, or any neighborhood block party.

While New York had CBGB, DC had the Wilson Center and 9:30 Club. Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Fugazi, and Dischord Records built one of the most influential hardcore scenes ever. Minor Threat's 1981 song 'Straight Edge' coined the drug-free hardcore identity that spread worldwide.

Ian MacKaye still runs Dischord from Arlington, and the scene's DIY ethic shaped DC indie culture for decades.

DC was nicknamed 'Chocolate City' for its long-running Black majority — Parliament-Funkadelic released the album of the same name in 1975. The half-smoke (a coarse-ground, smoked half-pork/half-beef sausage) is the city's signature dish, served best at Ben's Chili Bowl, which has been on U Street since 1958.