{{Short description|American musical group}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Drexciya | image = | caption = | image_size = | alias = | origin = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | instrument = | genre = {{hlist|Detroit techno|electro}} | occupation = | years_active = 1992–2002 | label = {{flatlist| *Underground Resistance *Tresor *Rephlex *Submerge Records *Clone Records }} | website = | current_members = | past_members = James Stinson<br>Gerald Donald }} '''Drexciya''' was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002<ref name=stinson_bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/james-marcel-stinson-mn0001315741/biography/|title=James Marcel Stinson - Biography|website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spannered.org/music/774/|title=James Stinson 1969-2002 - An Appreciation}}</ref>) and Gerald Donald.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FD4jKFVQOhMC&dq=%22Gerald+Donald%22+techno&pg=PA108|title=A Tale of Two Cities|last=Rubin|first=Mike|date=October 1998|work=Spin|pages=104–109|access-date=19 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Scales |first=Helen |date=2021-01-25 |title=Drexciya: how Afrofuturism is inspiring calls for an ocean memorial to slavery |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/25/drexciya-how-afrofuturism-inspired-calls-for-an-ocean-memorial-to-slavery |access-date=2025-02-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Contributors |first=Ars |date=2021-02-28 |title=Inside the stunning Black mythos of Drexciya and its Afrofuturist '90s techno |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/02/inside-the-stunning-black-mythos-of-drexciya-and-its-afrofuturist-90s-techno/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Career== The majority of Drexciya's releases were dancefloor-oriented electro, punctuated with elements of retro and 1980s Detroit techno, with occasional excursions into the ambient and industrial genres. They had 3 releases on the highly influential Underground Resistance Detroit record label. Tracks were mostly centered around the Roland TR-808 drum machine, Roland D20 synthesizer, Casio CZ 5000, Kawai K1 synthesizer, Korg Monopoly synthesizer, and Roland TR-909 drum machine.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gaskins|first=Nettrice|author-link=Nettrice Gaskins|date=2016|title=Deep Sea Dwellers: Drexciya and the Sonic Third Space|url=http://shimajournal.org/issues/v10n2/h.-Gaskins-Shima-v10n2.pdf|journal=Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures|volume=10|issue=2|doi=10.21463/shima.10.2.08|doi-access=free}}</ref>
Drexciya's music was mechanical and fluid yet filled with underwater and aquatic noises.<ref name=":0">Eperjesi, J. R. (2022). Imagined Oceans: Drexciya’s Bubble Metropolis and Blue Cultural Studies. ''Journal of Popular Music Studies'', ''34''(1), 118–140. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1525/jpms.2022.34.1.118</nowiki></ref> In an interview highlighting Drexciyas music and history According to Mike Rubin, “To the standard electro palette of analog synths and 808s, Drexciya added a bubbly variety of wet-sounding keyboard lines, plus echoey sonar pings, depth charges and diving sounds.” <ref name=":0" /> Drexciya's music had an alien-like feel to it with the artwork reflecting the feeling of the music.<ref name=":0" />
In the early 1990s the idea of eco-criticism was starting to rise, eco-criticism was the idea of connection to literature and wilderness or natural elements.<ref name=":0" /> Drexciya was one of the leading experts in this area and made it very popular amongst techno and other music genres.<ref name=":0" /> Drexciya's highlighted the oceanic myths alien-like cover art with their music in a revolutionary way that still today artists try and replicate.<ref name=":0" />
Drexciya's music was about the myth and legend but also was about spreading awareness of ethical treatment especially with African Americans.<ref name=":0" /> Drexciya highlighted the mistreatment of the African Americans in history and wanted the detroit duos music to bring light in an artistic way to a historical problem.<ref name=":0" /> Drexciya did this by telling stories and transferring information within the duos art and music.<ref name=":0" />
In 1997, Drexciya released a compilation album, titled ''The Quest''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2696394/drexciya-reissues/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314153515/http://www.mtv.com/news/2696394/drexciya-reissues/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2017|title=Drexciya's Imaginary Soundtrack for Science Fiction|work=MTV|first=Andy|last=Beta|date=22 June 2012|access-date=13 March 2017}}</ref> The duo released three studio albums: ''Neptune's Lair'' (1999), ''Harnessed the Storm'' (2002), and ''Grava 4'' (2002).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19824-drexciya-transllusion-neptunes-lairthe-opening-of-the-cerebral-gate/|title=Drexciya / Transllusion: Neptune's Lair / The Opening of the Cerebral Gate|work=Pitchfork|first=Andy|last=Beta|date=16 October 2014|access-date=13 March 2017}}</ref> Drexciya's music was so well received that in 1999 ''Neptune's Lair'' received the "Dance CD of the week" award by CD reviews.<ref>"CD Reviews: DANCE CD OF THE WEEK." Birmingham Post [England], 16 Oct. 1999, p. 6. Gale OneFile: News, http://www.trinitymirror.com/.</ref>
Drexciya, which eschewed media attention and its attendant focus on personality,<ref name=samuels>{{cite news|url=http://www.electronicbeats.net/en/features/interviews/gerald-donald-interview/|title=Master Organism: A.J. Samuels interviews Gerald Donald|last=Samuels|first=A. J.|date=30 May 2013|work=Electronic Beats|access-date=19 December 2014|archive-date=4 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104171913/http://www.electronicbeats.net/en/features/interviews/gerald-donald-interview/|url-status=dead}}</ref> developed around a nautical afrofuturist myth.<ref name="womack">{{cite book|last=Womack|first=Ytasha|title=Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pTXVAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70|year=2013|publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=9781613747995|page=70}}</ref> The group revealed in the sleeve notes to their 1997 album ''The Quest'' that "Drexciya" was an underwater country populated by the unborn children of pregnant African women who were thrown off of slave ships; the babies had adapted to breathe underwater in their mothers' wombs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artpractical.com/column/interview_with_kodwo_eshun/|title=Interview with Kodwo Eshun of the Otolith Group|date=15 February 2012|work=Art Practical|access-date=5 December 2014}}</ref> The myth was built partly on Paul Gilroy's ''The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness'' (1993), according to Kodwo Eshun.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Eshun|first=Kodwo|author-link=Kodwo Eshun|title=Further Considerations of Afrofuturism|journal=CR: The New Centennial Review|volume=3|issue=2|year=2003|pages=287–302|doi=10.1353/ncr.2003.0021|s2cid=13646543|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/new_centennial_review/v003/3.2eshun.html|access-date=19 December 2014|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
All of Drexciya's music and artwork reflected the myth by showing the alien and aquatic feelings commonly associated with the music.<ref name=":0" /> The artwork brought attention to afro futurism and African American culture especially in the Detroit area.<ref name=":0" />
Stinson died suddenly on September 3, 2002, of a heart condition.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/nme-2048-1379244|title=DREXCIYA MEMBER DIES |date=9 Sep 2002|work=NME|access-date=6 May 2019}}</ref> Gerald Donald continues to produce music as part of the groups Dopplereffekt, Der Zyklus, Elecktroids, NRSB-11, Daughter Produkt and under other monikers such as XOR Gate, Arpanet, Japanese Telecom, Glass Domain and more.<ref name=stinson_bio />
==Legacy== in 2011 a documentary was written on struggling community in Ghana, what was once a booming city of tourism now is collapsing, the documentary had an afro-futurism motive that was inspired from the works of the Drexciya techno music group.<ref>"Drexciya." , directed by Dustin Thompson, and Adoma O. Akosua. , produced by Obibini Pictures. , Grasshopper Film, 2011. Alexander Street, <nowiki>https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/Drexciya</nowiki>.</ref>
In 2019, with support from Gerald Donald and Helen Stinson, the mother of James Stinson, visual artist Abu Qadim Haqq created The Book of Drexciya, Volume I (and later The Book of Drexciya, Volume II in 2021), which was inspired by the mythos of Drexciya's work.<ref>{{cite web |date=19 May 2020 |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/news/58355/the-book-of-drexciya-vol-1-published-this-week |website=The Wire |title=''The Book Of Drexciya Vol 1'' published this week |access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref> The books chronicle the origins of Drexciya and the rise of their first ruler, Drexaha.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brown Jr.|first=DeForrest|author-link=DeForrest Brown Jr. |date=2022 |title=Assembling a Black Counter Culture |url= |location= |publisher= Primary Information|page= |isbn=9781734489736}}</ref>
Also in 2019, industrial hip-hop group Clipping cited Drexciya and their mythology as an influence to their 2017 song, The Deep.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Deep, by clipping. |url=https://clppng.bandcamp.com/album/the-deep-3 |access-date=2025-10-21 |website=clipping. |language=en}}</ref>
In 2023, "From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya", a multimedia exhibition by American photographer and contemporary artist Ayana V. Jackson opened at the National Museum of African Art. The exhibit took inspiration from the founding myth of Drexciya and directly featured music by the group.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Milbourne |first1=Karen E. |title=From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson |url=https://africa.si.edu/exhibitions/current-exhibitions/from-the-deep-in-the-wake-of-drexciya-with-ayana-v-jackson/?utm_source=si.edu&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=MyVisitSI |website=africa.si.edu |publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of African Art |access-date=16 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Mark |title=A watery mythological realm is given flesh at the Smithsonian |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/05/17/national-museum-of-african-art-from-the-deep/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=16 June 2024}}</ref> The exhibition which concluded in January 2025, is one of several exhibitions labeled as "anti-American propaganda” by US President Donald Trump's administration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eede |first=Christian |date=2025-08-27 |title=Trump Administration Criticises Smithsonian Museum Over Drexciya-Inspired Exhibition |url=https://thequietus.com/news/trump-administration-criticises-smithsonian-museum-over-drexciya-inspired-exhibition/ |access-date=2025-09-26 |website=The Quietus |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Studio albums=== * ''Neptune's Lair'' (1999), Tresor * ''Harnessed the Storm'' (2002), Tresor * ''Grava 4'' (2002), Clone
===Compilation albums=== * ''The Quest'' (1997), Submerge * ''Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller I'' (2011), Clone * ''Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller II'' (2012), Clone * ''Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller III'' (2013), Clone * ''Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller IV'' (2013), Clone
===EPs=== * ''Deep Sea Dweller'' (1992), Shockwave Records * ''Drexciya 2: Bubble Metropolis'' (1993), Underground Resistance * ''Drexciya 3: Molecular Enhancement'' (1994), Rephlex, Submerge * ''Drexciya 4: The Unknown Aquazone'' (1994), Submerge * ''Aquatic Invasion'' (1994), Underground Resistance * ''The Journey Home'' (1995), Warp Records * ''The Return of Drexciya'' (1996), Underground Resistance * ''Uncharted'' (1997), Somewhere in Detroit * ''Hydro Doorways'' (2000), Tresor
===Singles=== * "Fusion Flats" (2000), Tresor * "Digital Tsunami" (2001), Tresor * "Drexciyan R.E.S.T. Principle" (2002), Clone
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * ''More Brilliant Than The Sun: Adventures In Sonic Fiction'' by Kodwo Eshun, pp. 06[083] - 06[085] (Quartet Books, London, 1998) * {{cite web|url=https://www.factmag.com/2010/09/09/the-essential-drexciya/|title=The genius of Drexciya in 10 essential releases|work=Fact|date=9 September 2010|access-date=9 March 2019}} * {{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/delving-into-the-drexciyan-deep-the-essential-james-stinson/|title=Delving Into The Drexciyan Deep: The Essential James Stinson|work=Vice|first=Antoin|last=Lindsay|date=3 September 2015|access-date=9 March 2019}}
==External links== * {{AllMusic|id=mn0000166652|label=Drexciya}} * {{Discogs artist|Drexciya|Drexciya}} * [http://www.globaldarkness.com/articles/drexciya.htm Artist page with extensive discography] at Global Darkness * [https://drexciyaresearchlab.blogspot.com/ The Drexciya Research Lab blog]
{{Authority control}} {{other uses}}
Category:American techno music groups Category:American dance musicians Category:American electro musicians Category:Musical groups from Detroit Category:Musical duos from Michigan Category:American electronic music duos Category:Musical groups established in 1992 Category:Afrofuturism Category:1992 establishments in Michigan Category:Underwater civilizations in fiction