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Society & Culture

#41 – How Do You Reinvent and Thrive in Baltimore’s Underground? | Kotic Couture

podcast June 17, 2025

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If you’ve ever danced your heart out at a sold-out basement party or streamed a late-night DJ set on your phone, you’ve felt the pulse of Kotic Couture’s world. In this episode, Baltimore Magazine’s 2023 Best Local Artist shares how she swapped rap verses for turntables, co-founded one of the city’s most inclusive monthly events, and turned a bedroom-studio experiment into the Prototype album—all while building a fiercely supportive community of fellow Black queer creatives. 

  • Embracing vulnerability: lessons learned from emceeing full-hour sets before new audiences
  • Prototype album deep dive: turning a fearless DIY experiment into a cohesive, locally produced project
  • Curating intentional spaces: co-founding VERSION—one of Baltimore’s most inclusive monthly parties—and sustaining community through venue closures ​
  • Power of word-of-mouth: why personal referrals and community trust can outweigh big marketing budgets
  • Pandemic pivot: adapting from in-person shows to digital drop-ins and stepping back into a scene transformed by new DJs
  • Broadening impact: collaborations with Black Techno Matters and Liberate DC, plus surprise opportunities in fashion and gallery features

Catch Kotic Couture’s first appearance on the podcast here: 

This episode was recorded during a season dedicated to creative growth, transformation, and honoring the foundations that helped build Baltimore’s culture.

Photo: 

Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

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