Chicago gave us House, Trax gave it a home; 40 years on, the revolution’s still jackin’.
When people talk about the origins of house music, they often start with basements, clubs, and borrowed drum machines. But the moment it turned from local rebellion into global movement—that moment belongs to Trax Records. Born in 1985 on the industrial fringes of Chicago, Trax didn’t just release music—it manufactured culture. And as it celebrates 40 years, the label’s founding ethos of disruption, inclusion, and radical sonic freedom continues to define the DNA of electronic music today.
From Pressing Plant to Powerhouse: How House Went Global
Founded by Larry Sherman from a humble vinyl pressing plant, Trax Records quickly became the engine room of a new genre taking shape in Chicago’s Black, Latinx, and queer communities. The label’s earliest releases—Frankie Knuckles’ “Your Love”, Marshall Jefferson’s “Move Your Body”, Phuture’s “Acid Tracks”—weren’t just club hits. They were cultural blueprints, defining the sound, tempo, and tone of what the world would soon call house.
Looking at its 40 year legacy, Trax offered a platform for outliers: artists who didn’t fit into pop, radio, or traditional industry boxes. It pioneered early acid, jack, and hip house. It put DJ names on vinyl jackets before anyone else did. And most of all, it captured the moment before fame, preserving the raw energy of house before it became a brand.
That same rawness still lives inside every drop of 808 kick and bassline squelch—from Boiler Room sets in São Paulo to basement parties in Berlin.
The First Lady of House: Screamin’ Rachael’s Relentless Vision
While many remember Larry Sherman’s role, the soul and future of Trax lives in Screamin’ Rachael. One of the earliest female voices in house music—and a punk kid from Chicago—Rachael wasn’t just present at the genre’s birth. She was central to its evolution.
Her 1980s vocal tracks with Trax—gritty, sexual, unapologetic—helped shift house from a DJ’s playground into a vocalist-led, emotion-forward sound. Rolling Stone later dubbed her the creator of the first vocal house record. But her work didn’t stop at the mic. She brought Chicago’s house ethos to New York, mentored new generations, bridged punk and club scenes, and collaborated with Afrika Bambaataa to forge Hip House—a genre hybrid that briefly ruled MTV and basement clubs alike. Her alliances with Larry Levan, DJ Keoki, and underground queer nightlife gave Trax access to a national subcultural network that would propel it beyond borders, 40 years on.
“We’re not a bottle-service brand. We came from basements and bedrooms—and that’s where the revolution started,” Rachael says.
More Than a Trax Compilation: 40 Years of Sound, Style, and Social Impact
The 40th Anniversary Collection, launching June 20, is more than nostalgia. It’s a living archive of house music’s evolution—and Trax’s role in shaping it. Curated by Jorge, a next-gen artist and provocateur, the compilation is available digitally and in limited-edition vinyl runs. Each drop, pressed by Desslab, will be capped at 150 copies—crafted as collectible art pieces with original designs and liner notes.
The tracklist reads like an oral history of dance music. Legacy acts like Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Armando, and Paul Johnson appear alongside modern innovators like Analog 87, Yuri Suzuki, and Hiroko Yamamura. From sweaty warehouse anthems to brainwave-generated remixes, the compilation charts a through-line of radical expression across eras. An in-store performance at Reckless Records in Chicago on launch day brings it full circle—featuring Joe Smooth, Ron Carroll, Screamin’ Rachael, LaZara, and Chillsesh on the decks. It’s both a celebration and a reclamation of dance floors as cultural centers.
Rising Again: Youth, Philanthropy, and Forward Momentum
Complementing the compilation is Rising Again (TRX2620), a limited 500-copy vinyl project aimed at intergenerational creativity. Produced by Pi Rho, the release features brainwave-generated soundscapes and tracks by Screamin’ Rachael, Spada, DJ ThadX, and others. It blends old-school analog gear with modern production software—and donates proceeds to SocialWorks, the nonprofit by Chance the Rapper, focusing on youth arts education in Chicago.
This isn’t a vanity project. It’s a manifesto in vinyl. And like every Trax release, it sends a message: community matters, experimentation matters, and the underground still leads.
Fashion, Archives, and the Future of Trax
For the first time ever, Trax is launching a fashion line in collaboration with Chicago-based designer Mario Maldonado. It reinterprets the label’s gritty legacy through graphic streetwear distributed via Juno, HHV, and deejay.de—a symbolic move that fuses club culture with wearable memory. The collection joins a wider Trax archival effort, including a planned documentary series, interactive website, and curated historical retrospectives, ensuring the label’s legacy is preserved for the next 40 years.
Meanwhile, Screamin’ Rachael continues to mentor young producers, partner with LGBTQ+ youth orgs, and tour globally—recently appearing with Trax International Posse at ADE 2024 in Amsterdam. From her Nashville home base, she keeps building bridges between old heads and new scenes.
“We don’t look at follower counts. We care about the music. That’s why Trax still means something,” she says.
A Living Legacy: Why Trax at 40 Matters More
In a world where many legendary imprints fade into footnotes or become commercialized shadows, Trax Records stands firm. It never bowed to radio trends. It never prioritized algorithms over artistry. And it never forgot that the dance floor was, and always will be, a place for the outsiders to feel at home.
40 years after that first press rolled off Larry Sherman’s machine, Trax Records remains as vital as ever—still disrupting, still amplifying marginalized voices, and still jackin’ with no apology. As house music enjoys a mainstream revival, the true heads know where it started. And if Screamin’ Rachael has anything to say about it, Trax won’t be remembered. It’ll be rediscovered, again and again.
