Drexciya


Drexciya was an American electronic music duo from Detroit, Michigan, consisting of James Stinson and Gerald Donald.
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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.
In 1997, Drexciya released a compilation album, titled The Quest. The duo released three studio albums: Neptune's Lair, Harnessed the Storm, and Grava 4.
Drexciya, which eschewed media attention and its attendant focus on personality, developed around a nautical afrofuturist myth. 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. The myth was built partly on Paul Gilroy's The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, according to Kodwo Eshun.
Stinson died suddenly on September 3, 2002, of a heart condition. Gerald Donald continues to produce music as part of the groups Dopplereffekt, Der Zyklus, Elecktroids, NRSB-11, Daughter Produkt and under other monikers such as XOR Gate, Arpanet, Japanese Telecom, Glass Domain and more.

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, which was inspired by the mythos of Drexciya’s work. The books chronicle the origins of Drexciya and the rise of their first ruler, Drexaha.
Also in 2019, industrial hip-hop group Clipping cited Drexciya and their mythology as an influence to their 2017 song, The Deep.
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. The exhibition which concluded in January 2025, is one of several exhibitions labeled as "anti-American propaganda” by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Discography

Studio albums

Neptune's Lair, TresorHarnessed the Storm, TresorGrava 4, Clone

Compilation albums

The Quest, SubmergeJourney of the Deep Sea Dweller I, CloneJourney of the Deep Sea Dweller II, CloneJourney of the Deep Sea Dweller III, CloneJourney of the Deep Sea Dweller IV, Clone

EPs

Deep Sea Dweller, Shockwave RecordsDrexciya 2: Bubble Metropolis, Underground ResistanceDrexciya 3: Molecular Enhancement, Rephlex, SubmergeDrexciya 4: The Unknown Aquazone, SubmergeAquatic Invasion, Underground ResistanceThe Journey Home, Warp RecordsThe Return of Drexciya, Underground ResistanceUncharted, Somewhere in DetroitHydro Doorways, Tresor

Singles

  • "Fusion Flats", Tresor
  • "Digital Tsunami", Tresor
  • "Drexciyan R.E.S.T. Principle", Clone