Drexciya

Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson (1969–2002^[1][2]) and Gerald Donald.^[3][4][5]

Drexciya
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Detroit techno electro
Years active	1992–2002
Labels	Underground Resistance Tresor Rephlex Submerge Records Clone Records
Past members	James Stinson Gerald Donald

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.^[6]

In 1997, Drexciya released a compilation album, titled The Quest.^[7] The duo released three studio albums: Neptune's Lair (1999), Harnessed the Storm (2002), and Grava 4 (2002).^[8]

Drexciya, which eschewed media attention and its attendant focus on personality,^[9] developed around a nautical afrofuturist myth.^[10] 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.^[11] The myth was built partly on Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993), according to Kodwo Eshun.^[12]

Stinson died suddenly on September 3, 2002, of a heart condition.^[13] Gerald Donald continues to produce music under other names such as Dopplereffekt with To Nhan Le Thi and Japanese Telecom.^[1]

Legacy

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.^[14] The books chronicle the origins of Drexciya and the rise of their first ruler, Drexaha.^[15]

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.^[16][17]

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