House, techno and hip-hop combine with the haunting beauty of dub to create a haute club masterpiece with the arrival of Vol. 1: RUN -- the first installment of a fiery collaborative series from party rocking Philadelphia-bred rapper Queen Jo and Pittsburgh-based sound designer, engineer and producer Herman "Soy Sos" Pearl.

The product of Pearl and his wife and business partner Staycee's creative initiative, the PearlArts Sound Residency, the forthcoming run of extended play releases led by Vol. 1: RUN. is derived from the success of their 2021 evening-length dance concert CIRCLES: going in –– an event that amplified Black femininity and energy through performance.

The show soundtrack of the same name was a mixed bag of modular synth driven, uptempo and experimental tracks that helped Soy Sos to revamp his workflow behind the boards after some time away from his roots in deep house and dub; Soy Sos' catalog from the early aughts to the present includes releases for Spiritual Life Music and his own imprint Tuff Sound Recording, as well as joint projects with DJ MKL under the monikers MKL vs. Soy Sos and 3 Generations Walking.

The ethos of CIRCLES: going in is at the core of the collection of "songs, b-sides, dubs & abstractions," from PearlArts guided by the monstrous presence of club connoisseur Queen Jo. The artistic partnership between Queen Jo and Soy Sos began in earnest in 2021 and yielded a successful set for the CMoA Inside Out Show in the summer of 2022. The pair hit the studio together in fall of the same year, recording all of the vocals for their forthcoming 4-EP series within the span of five days.

For Queen Jo, Vol. 1: RUN follows her 2019 Broad Street Bella LP, 2021's Queenadelphia produced by Dameadelphia and the 2022 project Bananas featuring ballroom legend Kevin “JZ” Prodigy. The latest compilation makes it doubly clear that hers is an otherworldly talent impervious to categorical boxes and predictable flows –– one that is ripe for the world's attention; A fixture of the Philadelphia hip-hop and ballroom scenes, Queen Jo raises the bar with an impressive foray into the outer limits of dub house and techno.

A thumping reminder that dedicated artist-producer duos possess a special kind of magic. Vol. 1: RUN plays as if Queen Jo has always been at the center of the dancefloor. Fitting, given that this particular discotheque is the house that she and Soy Sos built. Beginning with "Run Me My Money," the pair give a tip of the cap to Detroit's Ghetto Tech and UK Garage. A buoyant bass line and hi-hats rub shoulders with a driving kick and the gospel shout of a titular refrain:

'Till further notice I'm cashed out/fall far from a cash cow/I work hard never assed out/Run me my money hoe...Run me my money hoe!'

"Work Hard" borrows elements from the theme of the former to deliver a chopped vocal masterpiece over an instrumental that calls back to ballroom's bombastic chants and the frenetic pace of Jersey club.

"Whateva" is the slower b-side of the release, clocking in at 90 bpm. The change in speed is a good excuse for the pair to deliver an homage to boom bap that showcases the heft of Queen Jo's lyrical prowess. Former DMC Champ DJ Supa C is on the decks to put a bow on things with additional cuts and scratches.

"Run Me My Dub" and the more sparse "Run Me My Dub Percussive Acapella” strip down the lead track to showcase Soy Sos' dexterity as a student of the dub tradition with a roots take that pulls inspiration from EPMD's "You Gots To Chill" (Dub Version) for the former. The latter is a combination of dub and percussion that opens the door for DJ's across the world to add their own special sauce to the main sample, because what is a club record if the selectors can't get busy?

More than merely book-ending one solid single with a few alternate takes, Queen Jo and Soy Sos set about the work of cultural preservation. Elevating the tradition of classic 12" remix vinyl releases from the footnotes of DJ culture, they offer five distinct cuts in one formidable package that showcases the depth of their combined skill. The release reestablishes remix production as a viable and necessary art form. In doing so, the pair pay tribute to the aforementioned analog format and the profound musical innovations of Jamaican dubplate culture with a record that prioritizes the mixing console as its chief instrument. More importantly, a record that is carefully engineered to kill in the club.

Karas Lamb