The soul of a dancer runs through each interlocking groove, foot-stomping bass line, and shoulder-shaking beat Blaqwell, aka Jamel Rankins, creates. Each note is brilliantly painted with thick layers of sultry funk and tinted by the legacy of house music history. A talent often recognized by DJs and industry luminaries the world over. His releases on Toolroom, Brobot Records, Simma Black, W&O Street Tracks, and more have gained support from a diverse group of artists including Low Steppa, Kerri Chandler, Marco Corolla, Maya Jane Coles, Roger Sanchez, Mark Knight, Frankie Rizardo, and the late great Frankie Knuckles. His symbiotic bond with house music culture stretches back to when he ditched his high school prom to do battle in the dance circles at the legendary New York nightclub Limelight. He cemented his love for house on the dancefloor, as one should. And as he became further immersed, he fell deeper in love with the subculture that accepted and nurtured the natural-born artist that didn’t always quite fit in elsewhere. He's regularly called upon to ensure that dance floors from Amsterdam to Miami are properly laced and bumpin’ with his trademark grooves. Each time he steps behind the decks, he does so intending to communicate his ethos to the dance floor through music. He says, “I think there's a magnetism between the disenfranchised, the unaccepted, and those who have not found their way yet. And this is the vibe that house music was born of.”