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For nearly six years, as D.C.’s homegrown sound continued to receive government support and global recognition, counted among several go-go bands that lent their talents to various causes, including violence prevention, Gallery Place/Chinatown, and most recently, the late D.C. Mayor Marion Barry. 

For TOB’s Chris Proctor, who serves as the group’s lead on the microphone, preservation of go-go music and culture remained central to all the band’s activities. 

That’s why he heralded the ceremonial ribbon cutting of the on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave in Southeast as a crucial milestone for the go-go community. 

“We are a part of history and we have a museum to display that,” Proctor told The Informer. “Go-go will be a part of tourism.”

During the 2000s, TOB rose in local acclaim as the “crank of the bounce beat.” That nickname alluded to TOB’s well carved out space in the go-go bounce beat subgenre that annoyed some go-go purists and, like its progenitors, suffered much of the blame for violent crime. 

When the Go-Go Museum & Cafe officially opens in February, TOB will count among a bevy of go-go acts featured in interactive exhibits peppered throughout the two-story, 8,000 square feet building. 

Visitors will have much to learn about D.C.’s go-go bands, figures, venues, art, clothing and instrumentation. They will also be able to study the lineage of a musical and cultural artform that starts with Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers.  

Decades after District-based venues started turning away from go-go, Proctor and many of his industry colleagues are finding their way back to spots within the nation’s capital, all while still attracting large crowds in Maryland and Virginia venues. 

Even so, Proctor acknowledges that more must be done to market go-go music, and the bounce beat in particular, to the few nonbelievers. He said that the Go-Go Museum & Cafe will be at the forefront of those conversations.

 “Bounce gets respect.. and elders have to accept it,” Proctor said. “I hope there’s some refreshing information [in the exhibit] where they would be getting hip.” 

The Movement Continues to Support Go-Go 

The Go-Go Museum & Cafe counts as the latest victory in a battle that started in the spring of 2019. 

That’s when Ron Moten, go-go scholar Dr. Natalie Hopkinson and several others flooded Florida Avenue NW— where 7th Street turns into Georgia Avenue— to take action. Protests started after T-Mobile corporate office, in response to residents’ complaints, ordered Donald Campbell to shut down the go-go music that, for decades, had been emanating from loudspeakers erected outside his MetroPCS storefront on Florida Avenue.

Eventually, after the crowds swelled at the intersection of Florida Avenue and 7th Street, the music at Metro Communications returned, along with a sense of hometown pride that had been lost in years of District native displacement and go-go’s rejection by the local establishment. 

By the end of 2019, the D.C. Council was well on its way to making go-go the official music of the District. Later, as artists struggled to weather the pandemic-triggered economic downturn, D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At large)   

Since the showdown at Shaw’s MetroPCS, Check It Enterprises had also , thanks to legislation introduced by District Councilmember Robert White (D-At large), and unanimously approved by the D.C. Council. Moten said that those funds, along with private donors and D.C. government support, allowed him to realize a vision he first articulated at the Go-Go Music Awards in the 2000s. 

“Those exhibits cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Moten said. “We got it done for $2.5 million. We are still 47% of the population. Black people still have a voice and say in this city. This is the time the city and government came together and got it right.” 

Before Junkyard Band and Backyard Band took to two different stages, The Rev. Tony Lee, in his role as master of ceremonies, ensured that Moten and an all-star line up of go-go figures and elected officials kept their comments short, sweet and to the point.  

Speakers included McDuffie, White, and Allyson Criner Brown, who, on behalf of the , acknowledged the Piscataway tribe and other indigenous groups who once lived in what is now the D.C. metropolitan area. 

Darrell Brooks, producer of , also took to the stage, along with: go-go historian Charles C. Stephenson Jr.; Trouble Funk’s Tony Wilson Fisher; Ralph Anwan “Big G” Glover of Backyard Band;  Wiley Brown, son of “Godfather of Go-Go” Chuck Brown; Dr. Vedet Coleman-Robinson of the Association of African American Museums; and J’Ta Freeman, a go-go and R&B artist from Southeast, introduced D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. 

Stephenson, author of “The Beat: Go-Go Music from ��ݮtv, D.C.,” recognized the Anacostia Museum and Frederick Douglass’ home as other historic gems in Anacostia, before crowning the Go-Go Museum & Cafe as a symbol of D.C.’s contemporary fight for civil and human rights. 

“This go-go museum epitomized our freedom struggle in the city for the last 60 years,” Stephenson said. “The D.C. government was complicit in the rise of go-go music. We had great musical programs and graduated all these musicians. We taught our students about music in schools and we will continue to do that.” 

Before she took to the stage and shouted out Haitians, Braziians and Jamaicans in her call for African diasporic unity, Hopkinson spoke similarly to Stephenson, as she called for more permanent public and private sector support of go-go. 

“One-time payments won’t do it,” Hopkinson, the curator of the Go-Go Museum & Cafe and author of “Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City” told The Informer prior to the event’s kickoff. “We need studios and concert space. We need to grow and make connections throughout the Diaspora to teach children. This would be a Black-led economic engine with the support of the people and the people representing the people.” 

Speakers, Members of the Public Reflect on Go-Go History 

The Go-Go Museum & Cafe is the nation’s 20th music museum. It’s also the District’s 80th museum, the first of which is strictly dedicated to go-go music. 

In addition to Moten and Hopkinson, Backyard’s Glover has involvement in the museum’s curation, as director of music.

Angela Bethea is the cafe chef. 

The space design represented a collaboration between , , , , , a D.C.-based, Black-owned design firm, digital media firm , and . 

The Nov. 18 ceremonial ribbon cutting kicked off Go-Go Preservation Week, while the February grand opening coincides with the fifth anniversary of go-go becoming D.C.’s official sound. Patrons can expect special, ticketed events twice a month. Additionally, the go-go museum and cafe will continue to raise funds through events and donations.  

In addition to interactive exhibits and a cafe, the go-go museum and cafe will have a recording studio and outdoor space for outdoor performances. Other notable elements include holograms of Glover and Sugar Bear of EU, DJ Kool’s touring jacket, a cutout of the  Godfather of Go-Go used for in-store promotion, and a touring outfit from . 

Legions of go-go artists, elected officials, D.C. government personnel, business owners, community members and students walked through the doors of the Check-It Enterprises, and down a narrow hallway to the Bundy Secret Garden, to celebrate the soft opening of what will be the Go-Go Museum & Cafe. 

Special guests included D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) and the District’s former First Lady Cora Masters Barry. 

Long before festivities started, seats quickly filled and an overflow of onlookers stood on the balconies of buildings surrounding Bundy’s Secret Garden. 

Later, Wiley Brown struggled to hold back what appeared to be tears of joy as he reflected on his late father’s legacy. 

“This music means so much to this city and this culture,” he said in his remarks. “We’re gonna keep it going. I know my father would be proud of anyone sitting here. I feel like I was born to do this… [and was] with him since 5 [years old], watching him on stage. It’s all about love at the end of the day.” 

Ty’Ronn Spriggs, special initiatives & youth coordinator for the District of Columbia Housing Authority, smiled with pride as he watched the packed ceremony from the overflow section inside the museum. The native ��ݮtvian said he felt it was important to be present due to his support for the Don’t Mute D.C. movement and personal ties to go-go music, which he said has majorly impacted his life. 

“It’s just one of those cultural things that keep us together. It makes you want to dance. It makes you want to move. It makes you want to think about your relationship problems,” Spriggs said, reflecting on the value of go-go music. “They say that French is [widely considered] the language of love. Go-go music is the language of D.C., and that’s what it’s about: how it makes you feel.”

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Brittany Shakir stood among celebrants ready to hear Junkyard Band for what felt like the “umpteenth” time in her life. 

Shakir, a lifelong singer, is featured alongside other members of Side by Side Band, a go-go band composed entirely of District police officers. More than a decade ago, she joined Side by Side Band excited about stories her mother told her about seeing the group during their visits to District public schools. 

Though she didn’t go to school in the District, Shakir said that always knew that Side by Side Band would become a major part of her life. 

“This is full circle,” Shakir said. “I incorporated my love for music to serve the community and bridge the gap between the police and the community. From hearing my mother talk about the band and then I became part of the band they speak so highly about.”

She reflected in awe of how far go-go music has come.

”Now we’ve got an exhibit,” Shakir told The Informer.