The songs that last — Robyn's "Dancing on My Own," Beyoncé's "Love On Top," Mariah Carey's "Fly Like a Bird," Raye's recent "I Know You're Hurting" — share something essential: they are honest to the point of discomfort. They reveal longing, desperation, and loneliness without the usual sheen of celebrity protection. Featuring a live DJ set, interactive stations, a panel discussion, and an after-event dance party, this program explores why vulnerability in song is not just an artistic choice but the mechanism by which art lasts and legacy is born.
Featuring a live DJ set by VITIGRRL, discussion with DJ Lady D, Shawnee Dez and Jared Brown/aka girly***, and a silent disco, this program explores why vulnerability in song is not just an artistic choice but the mechanism by which art lasts and legacy is born.
This program curated and hosted by Britt Julious, 2023 Chicago Critics Table Cohort member.
This is part of a series of public programs co-designed between Chicago Critics Table alumni and the APL team to provide more public access to the deeper critical conversations our critics are having. You can learn more about CCT here
About the Artists
Britt Julious
Britt Julious is a writer, editor, essayist, and storyteller. A firm believer in the underground, the avant-garde and the underdog, Britt currently serves as a music critic for the Chicago Tribune. As a journalist, she has written for Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Glamour, The Cut, Pitchfork, the New York Times and many others. Her debut book, Queens of Soul, comes out in 2027. In 2023, Britt was a member of the Chicago Critic’s Table. She is also a recipient of the Studs Terkel award in journalism.
VITIGRRL
VITIGRRL is a Chicago-born selector, sonic historian, and keeper of the dancefloor. Her name tells her story: VITI honors her roots and heritage, while GRRL embodies untamed feminine power, creative rebellion, and defiant joy. A mainstay at Smartbar and member of The Good Girls, an all-women DJ collective alongside legends Lady D and Lori Branch, she is a fixture in Chicago's queer nightlife and the visionary behind the I-94 Legacy Project, bridging Chicago and Detroit's musical lineage. With abundant, raw, pulse-driven energy, VITIGRRL doesn't just play tracks. She conducts rituals.
DJ Lady D
DJ Lady D is a multifaceted DJ, producer, and label owner from Chicago. Dubbed “Chicago’s House Music Queen,” she is a thrilling headliner and a prominent representative of Black women in electronic music. She founded the visionary label D’lectable Music and formed the pioneering all-female DJ collective Superjane. In 2011, she made history as the first Black female DJ to ever play Lollapalooza. Having toured globally across North America, Europe, Russia, and Asia, her notable appearances include ADE and ARC Music Festival. Additionally, she was elected to the Board of Governors for the Recording Academy Chicago Chapter.
girly***
girly*** is a DJ and performance alias born and currently based in Chicago. Bass, vocal samples, synths, vinyl and community allow girly*** to bend time and bridge gaps between genres bred in the Midwest, Baltimore, UK, the Tri-State area and cyberspace. Listeners should expect the unexpected from a girly*** set. Every blend may not be perfect but every blend will be poetic. SmartBar, Hidden Ideas, Smoke & Mirrors, Podlasie Club and Miyagi Records are a few places girly*** has been witnessed.
Shawnee Dez
From Chicago’s South Side, music artist Shawnee Dez intently engages her audience, encouraging energy exchanges first and foremost. Dez is concerned with ancestral knowledge and performance as an opportunity to channel and communicate with the past and future. Her music style consists of heavy use of harmonic layering, a fusion of live instrumentation with digital production, topped off with her dynamic multi-ranged alto melodic voice, creating the perfect dreamscape.