In 1989 my sister, once again, accompanied me to a club in lower Manhattan called Tunnel. The space was a massive, decommissioned, subway tunnel and was home to several sub-spaces that sported a different vibe, theme and even different DJs spinning tracks of various genres. It’s the first time I saw what we know as Voguing and the first time I heard House music. I was that person standing beside the DJ booth looking on in awe; which I still do to this day.

My mix commemorates the freedom of expression that those club kids had and would take me many years to cultivate, harness, and wield with confidence; finally gaining my own sense of pride. I also pay tribute to my late friends: Ron Santos, Venzuelo Scott, and Mike Sanchez, and the many souls that left us in their prime. There were no treatments for a disease that decimated a generation. Maybe they are the reason why ballroom, drag and Vogueing are the world recognized art forms they are now, in the way they so wanted.