“A Little Bit of Understanding”     by  Horacio Sierra          HoracioSierra@aol.com

     When did the house music of the early 1990's disappear? I'm not quite sure, but as a seven-year-old faux-breakdancing fan of Technotronic I relished the thumping all-encompassing beats that dance songs regularly pumped through the speakers. Then, there was a long period when, turned off by the popularity of gangster rap and vapid dance tunes among my peers in school, I listened to nothing but Baroque masterpieces.

That all changed in middle school, when in the midst of my peers still obsessing over the likes of 2Pac and Bone-Thugs-'N'-Harmony with their pseudo-ghetto clothes and mannerisms in the heart of the suburbs I heard Jocelyn Enriquez's "A Little Bit of Ecstasy."

I was in our cafeteria selling pizza to raise funds for the school newspaper during a dance we hosted. When the cheapest DJ in town mixed the song into the ending of the song that it followed, it sounded just like any other. Then, a phrase from the chorus was repeated ad-nauseum as is the style for club mixes - but I was captivated. Laced with propulsive exotic synth sounds, echoing background vocals, and a funky breakdown bridge the song created an irresistible rump-shaking groove. Enriquez’s coquettish beseeching to give her “ecstasy” was a clever double-entendre on sex and the popular rave drug. It felt subversive to smile at it along with other knowledgeable students.

I asked a fellow editor to cover for me at the pizza station and headed for the dance floor for the first time in my three years at the school.  Dancing with strangers from my own school I finally understood the collective elation of my peers on the cafeteria dance floor when the first strains of a song emanated from the speakers, were recognized, and hailed as the next antidote for their insatiable desire to dance. I also understood the appeal of urban music in our suburbia. It was different, it was enjoyable, and it took us away from the plight of our pre-algebra homework and science fair projects.

Horacio Sierra is studying journalism and English literature at the University of Miami.