Music or Noise?: The Story of Go-Go in a Gentrifying Neighborhood in D.C.

'On a corner in a historically Black neighborhood in Washington D.C., just a few of blocks away from Howard University, a Metro PCS phone store is famous for loudly bumping go-go — a funky, hip-hop music rooted in Black culture which was born in D.C. The store sits on the corner of “Chuck Brown Way,” named after the godfather of go-go himself Chuck Brown. The Shaw neighborhood has seen its fair share of gentrification, and in 2019, a resident from a luxury apartment building across the street from the Metro PCS made a noise complaint, and allegedly threatened to sue the owner of Metro PCS, which is T-Mobile The go-go was turned off, but not before several members of the community came together to create the “Don’t Mute DC” movement and demonstrated outside the luxury apartment buildings in support of the store. Natalie Hopkinson, an Associate Professor of Communication, Culture and Media Studies at Howard University and co-Founder of “Don’t Mute DC” Movement, talks with The Takeaway all about go-go.'