Kenna B2B Harry Duran - Behind the Decks MPLS

On this episode of Behind the Decks MPLS, host Harry Duran sits down with Kenna, a Minneapolis-born DJ, dancer, community radio host, and founder of the Mini House Picnic, an all-day celebration of what she calls "the Black technology of house music." Modeled after The Chosen Few in Chicago, this year's picnic brought together 13 homegrown, deeply rooted house music DJs spinning vinyl, digital vinyl, and controllers in North Minneapolis at Lowry and Aldrich, with a live band performing classic house tunes with Jamesia Bennett and Jay Movement. Kenna traces her path from trying to be a B girl on the hip hop scene, where her late mentors DJ Disco T and DJ Nex taught her to mix and blend, to jazz radio at WHOB FM in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and to her family's multigenerational tradition of jazz radio on KFAI in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. She explains why jazz is Black American music and shares how her daughter Yancey, a DJ who came through the DJU program with DJ Madre, handed her a controller and pulled her back into DJing. That led to her all-mix radio show on KRSM, where she blends genres like Senegalese mbalax with trap. The conversation covers the elements of hip hop, roller rink DJ culture and skate styles in Chicago and Detroit, the healing power of gospel house, crate digging at People's Records in Detroit and Urban Lights in St. Paul, and a Frankie Knuckles reminder that "You don't have to have the best equipment... You just have excellent taste and you play the records one after another." Subscribe to our channel and watch past episodes here:    • Behind the Decks MPLS   LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW: https://feeds.captivate.fm/behind-the... WATCH THE INTERVIEW:    • Why 'Jazz' Was Used to Silence Black Artis...   CATCH THE B2B: TBD + Harry Duran YouTube: TBD Soundcloud: TBD Key Takeaways ============ 0:00:00 Kenna and the Mini House Picnic 0:03:12 Hip Hop Mentors and Mostly Jazz on KFAI 0:07:19 Jazz Is Black American Music 0:09:29 Roller Rinks and Regional Skate Styles 0:14:30 Following Yancey From Bedroom DJing to KRSM 0:19:25 Dance Roots and the Healing Power of House 0:26:57 Mini House Picnic Year Two and Black Women Getting It Done 0:31:30 Advice for New DJs Memorable Quotes ============ "Jazz is Black American music. It is American music. Black people created that, and we're a generous people. So everybody's freaking it, and now it's reverberated and circled the world and came back around." "I will always try to create the type of space that I want to inhabit and live in. I always try to add on to what I see other people doing, but I also say, 'Okay, I don't exactly see what I'm looking for, so let me create it.'" "There are so many different ways to be a DJ, so just think about that and maybe try some different ones. You might find you really love being in community and playing every request of every kid." Connect with Kenna ============ Behind the Decks MPLS Podcast Elsewhere ============ Watch on YouTube:    • Behind the Decks MPLS   Listen + Watch on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0nuAdLB... Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Soundcloud:   / behind-the-decks-mpls   MPLSHOUSE ============ Website: https://www.mplshouse.com/ Instagram:   / mplshouse   YouTube:    / @mplshouse3333   Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mplshouse Angel Sandro on Instagram:   / angelmsandro   Hosted by Harry Duran ============ Instagram:   / djhdbeats   Soundcloud:   / djhd   Credits ============ Podcast Track ID: (Feel For Yuh) - Jeff Swiff feat. MPLSHOUSE on Real Feel Records https://itstherealfeel.bandcamp.com/a... 🎧 Podcast Production & Marketing by FullCast → https://fullcast.co 🎧 About Behind the Decks MPLS ============ Electronic music scenes don’t grow from algorithms—they grow from people, late nights, and local rooms that shape the sound. Each episode of Behind the Decks MPLS features an in-depth interview with a DJ from the Minneapolis–Twin Cities scene, followed by a back-to-back DJ set that captures their style, influences, and energy behind the decks. If you love house and electronic music, DJ culture, local scenes, and discovering the stories behind the music—this show is for you.