A huge tribute to D.C. go-go music was unveiled Tuesday at what one official called a “sacred corner” for the District sound.
The new go-go mural at Florida Avenue and Seventh Street NW shows a young person beating out a rhythm on an overturned plastic jug. Oversized letters spell out “GO-GO CITY.”
Mural artist Kaliq Crosby, a D.C. native, said he wants the mural to inspire people and broadcast a message of joy. He said he meant to tell “the story of people with nothing turning it into something.”
“They didn’t have instruments so used whatever they could get,” Crosby said at the unveiling ceremony.
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Go-go, with its distinctive beat and and emphasis on call and response, can be heard at the corner every day. The music sparked complaints from some residents in 2019. Go-go fans responded with a movement called “Don’t Mute D.C.” and a pop-up concert.
Christine Davis, interim director of the District’s public works department, called the site of the mural and the music sacred.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laughed out loud as I’ve watched people from every background you can imagine dance like nobody is watching,” she said at the unveiling ceremony.
“The message at 7th and Florida couldn’t be clearer – you can’t and won’t mute DC. Go-Go is DC and DC is Go-Go,” Mayor Muriel Bowser added in a written statement later Tuesday.
Bowser declared go-go the official music of D.C. last year. Every Aug. 22 in D.C. is Chuck Brown Day, honoring the Godfather of Go-Go.
Go here to learn about murals that can be found across the District. Artists for the 2021 season were asked to reflect “DC pride, social justice, statehood, and/or gender/racial equality.”
