Creatives Diamora “DJ Rosegawd” Hunt and Kristian Smith have curated a monthly R&B listening experience in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. The duo chose Hilltop Coffee on South Hill Street – a café co-owned by writer/director Issa Rae – as the perfect incubation spot for their new venture, an endeavor they called “Auntie Jamz.”
DJ Rosegawd has a decorated history of hosting themed parties, including a commemoration of singer/songwriter Aaliyah — a celebration Smith happened to attend after he moved to L.A. from Baltimore. The two connected some time later, and Smith pitched the idea of hosting an Auntie-themed party to Rosegawd. As fate would have it, their creative destinies interlocked at the perfect moment.
“Being a transplant you hear a lot of people say [that] it’s not much of a Black community in L.A. or many Black parties,” Smith explained. “I just wanted to have a hand in showing that there is community here.”
The Auntie Jamz parties pay homage to a fundamental cornerstone of the Black childhood experience: watching your aunts and uncles boogie down in the family living room to the sound of their favorite records. Kicking off at 7:00 p.m. (and winding down around midnight), it’s a party for the early-birds who want to cut a rug at a reasonable hour and still make it to bed on time. The nostalgia of the Auntie Jamz series is palpable, so much so that they’ve been featured on the Los Angeles Sentinel Newspaper and CBS News Los Angeles. In a beautifully unexpected way, Rosegawd and Smith have made achieving “auntie” status a feat worth celebrating, and the momentum behind their parties shows no signs of stopping.
Debuting at The Mermaid in April 2024, the first Auntie Jamz party blew the venue’s 60-person capacity clear out of the water – with a line out stretching out the door. Encouraged by the success, Rosegawd and Smith pitched their party concept to Hilltop Coffee, a venue that offered more space. Once again, the party drew an overflowing crowd: 150 party-goers arrived prompt and ready to dance as the doors opened for September’s Auntie Jamz night. The café hit capacity just a few hours later, and a line flooded out the door all night long.
“They were on their second Electric Slide by 8:00 p.m.!” Rosegawd recalled with a laugh.
When it was time to brainstorm a knockout theme for October’s Auntie Jamz party, Rosegawd and Smith set their sights on reincarnating the pinnacle of the uncle and auntie dance experience: Soul Train. A nationwide phenomenon created and hosted by Don Cornelius, the T.V. show “Soul Train” was a staple in the 70′s that commemorated the importance and beauty of Black music, dance and fashion.
On the day of the costume party, October 18th, roughly 400 eager party-goers flocked to The Echoplex for Soul Train Night. Transported back to the 70′s, attendees sweated their cares away to the tune of Cheryl Lynn’s “Encore,” Evelyn “Champagne” King’s “Love Come Down” and Chaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing.” Even the sounds of gospel’s greatest hits erupted from the loudspeakers, with Kirk Franklin and God’s Property’s “Stomp (Remix)” awakening the Sunday School kid in all those in attendance.
DJ’s Dirty Dell, Blue The Great, R-Tistic and Rosegawd, herself, graced the Soul Train stage. Smith MC’d the night, decked out in a black-and-white checkered button-up, groovy sunglasses and faux afro. He stole the show with an avant-garde, witty commentary that evoked all the feelings of a real Soul Train party. Don Cornelius would have been proud.
Everywhere you turned, chromatic shades, bell bottoms, patterned neck scarves, sparkled platform shoes (courtesy the men, mostly), and fur coats flooded the dance floor. Gen X’ers, Millennials, and Gen Z’ers alike came alive in the nighttime, amped for the night’s groovy tests. It was clear everyone had done their homework: throwing out phrases like “jive turkey,” “foxy mama,” and “gimme some skin” while dusting off old school moves like the bump, robot, hustle and cabbage patch. Even Blue The Great couldn’t resist alchemizing the funky vibrations, and burst into a moonwalk in the hot spotlight on stage.
“The boys really came through. I mean they put on wigs, they had glasses, they had button-downs,” Rosegawd recalled. “I feel like they kind of ate us up!”
As the night concluded, and a seamless transition from Adina Howard’s “Freak Like Me” faded into Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” the psychedelic frequencies converged into one of the night’s greatest highlights: a Soul Train line emerging on the dance floor, as if mimicking parting the Red Sea.
One after the other, beautiful faces fell in line to showcase their best dance moves amidst the ever-multiplying crowd. It was clear the “oldies dance night” had surpassed its original intention and crystallized into a precious moment of time to be savored by all.
“It’s like a spiritual experience. People that came alone leave with friends,” Smith explained. “We’ve started to get to know people that just come often now, people I didn’t know before...it really is this big family now.”
Looking ahead, Rosegawd and Smith are excited about the prospect of scaling their events and collaborating with larger venues. The two aspire to host block parties, curate mini-festivals with live performances, and incorporate vendors into the mix. Their dream goal is to partner with existing activations like Coachella and the Essence Festival (or “Auntie-chella”, as Smith warmly calls the festival).
Signing off from Auntie Jamz; “as always in parting, we wish you love, peace…and SOUL.”
(Please fill in hand gestures amongst yourselves.)