Jamie Principle

Jamie Principle, born in 1960 in Chicago, Illinois is one of the early pioneers of the house music genre.  The house genre originated in Chicago in the early 1980’s. He cites artists such as David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Prince, and the Human League as his inspirations for his style of music.  He began his musical career by playing drums and the clarinet in church.  After being introduced to fellow Chicago DJ Frankie Knuckles, he began to produce his own music on a 4 track recorder and synthesizer.

In 1984 he released a single called “Your Love.” The song is widely recognized as one of the genre’s first house songs. The song became an underground hit in the Chicago House Club scene. Principle continued to release music into the 1980’s including the songs “Baby Wants to Ride,” “Cold World,” “Bad Boy,” “Rebels,” “Waiting on My Angel,” and “I’m Gonna Make You Scream.” In 1992 Principle released his first album entitled The Midnite Hour. His song “Cold World” featuring Steve “Silk” Hurley entered the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart at number 22. In 2004 the single “Back N Da Day” charted in at number 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club chart. In 2017 Principle was featured on the song “Sex Murder Party” on the Gorillaz’ album entitled Humanz.