Jacq Jill resumed “The Cookout” is a trilogy of day parties featuring a different pair of D.C.-area based collectives, held on the rooftop of the Embassy Row Hotel in Dupont Circle. 

This past weekend’s party featured members of CMPVTR CLVB (Stclair Castro and Ledroit) and the entire TROPIXXX crew: The Lothario, Mathias, The Clown Prince and Jackson Kachor (the crew’s most recent addition). Stclair and Ledroit gave an unrelenting, bass-pumping house and techno set, which transitioned nicely into Jacq Jill’s club, trap and house set, before TROPIXXX went all over the map with everything from Bachata-trap to Jersey Club renditions of My Chemical Romance songs.

The crowd soaked in the uninterrupted sunlight as the DJs journeyed all over the EDM landscape. The music that blasted through the speakers there was not much more different than what you could hear at Echostage, Soundcheck or any other clubs that would pay touring DJs tens of thousands of dollars to play. On more than one occasion, I overheard a guest lightly heckle an artist and ask “Where’d you get this?,” or even “Which Calvin Harris mix are you playing?” as if dance music is best served by the world’s highest-grossing DJs, and everyone else is just providing mere imitations. 

Both collectives have been active in and around D.C.’s electronic music scene for a number of years as performers and as curators, frequently hosting artists from all over the country, such as TROPIXXX’s ragers at Velvet Lounge, Jacq Jill’s “Juice” and “Warm Bodies,” and CMPVTR CLVB’s multi-faceted shows in everywhere from Capital Fringe to 9:30 Club. However, if you ask many DJs and curators in the area, consistent avenues for bass music — — no matter the subgenre — have largely been a tough sell in D.C.’s nightlife. Ironically, some of the biggest pop songs of 2016 and 2017 have borrowed cadences and sounds lifted from “moombahton,” D.C.’s own indigenous genre of what has been further sectioned as ‘tropical bass’ music. The Legendary “Moombahton Massive” parties at U St. Music Hall, proved that there are avenues for forward-thinking electronic music in the District.

“The Cookout” series is yet another indication that electronic music produced and curated byD.C.’s homegrown DJs have cultivated are fit for larger venues. You can see TROPIXXX members next month at The Fillmore in Silver Spring, and be sure to RSVP for the finale of “The Cookout” series.