Function

Ain’t no party like an L.A. party. The function is what we do. We devote ourselves to the word because it gives us so much in return. It's our favorite noun and verb and way of being. We live to function. We live for the function. We outchea tryna’ function.

If you aren’t quite sure exactly what an L.A. function is, we suggest you read the room. It’s not the Hollywood celebrities on the rooftop at the W hotel or the after-work crowd who used to frequent the Standard downtown. A real function connects the various diasporas of L.A. — the uncles cracking open Tecate in the backyards, those aunties at Pips on La Brea, the homies who used to pull up at Just Be Cool. A function compels us to come sweat it out together.

The soundtrack of an L.A. function is instructive. It thumps, we listen. The great interlocutor of Leimert Park Dom Kennedy tried to tell you what he looks for when he comes around: “I’m waiting to hear Suga Free, Quik or 2Pac.” What happens next? The body responds as it is supposed to. It begins below the waist — the knees bob, the ankles absorb the weight and push back, which results in the bounce that frees the feet up to start moving as they see fit. Meanwhile, the hands ball into fists and turn inward, toward the chest. The elbows jet out from the shoulders. That’s Act 1. The second act is about narrative: when the arms finally stretch out and raise upward toward the ceiling, the hands tell stories about where we’re from and who we love.

Act 3 is taking stock of what went down. This issue is where we humbly reflect, assess, rewind, run it back, get to the bottom of what the function really do. Here, you’ll see what dressing to the nines at the biggest party in town — the Born X Raised Sadie Hawkins bash — looks like. You’ll relive Hana Vu’s coming-of-age tale of nights spent on the city’s DIY indie circuit. You’ll revisit the groove that never ends with the wizard of perennial West Coast funk, DJ Quik, and get a special guest verse from his longtime collaborator Suga Free.

We’ll also show you what really makes an L.A. party an L.A. party according to the people who’ve made it their life’s work to move us — the city’s DJs, the musicians, the promoters, the performers. We had them do some crate digging, share their memories and put together a list of the greatest L.A. party anthems of the 21st century so you have something for the ride home.

Soak in the institutional knowledge they’re kicking to you and remember: the function is continuous. It never dies so long as you’re around good company.

Ian F. Blair
Editor in Chief