South Fulton residents SiR Roberts and Alexis Mathis look forward to Slow Drag every month. The couple has been to every event since June 2022 and said it allows them to reset regardless of what they’re going through.
Mathis told UATL the close-knit dance party, which generally attracts a predominately Black crowd and plays soulful 1970s slow jams, was exactly what she was looking for when she discovered the event on Facebook.
“It’s our chance to get close and slow dance to some of the best music ever created, in a world where slow dancing seems to be disappearing. When we walk into that room and that blue light turns on, it’s always a vibe,” Mathis said.
Credit: Eye Focus
Credit: Eye Focus
Slow Drag, celebrating its fifth anniversary with two special throwback events this weekend, is a nostalgic party for fans of Black love songs, specifically ballads and slower-tempo tracks. Named after a cultural term used to describe rhythmic slow-dancing with romantic partners, it’s often affectionately called “baby-making music.”
Attendees come to connect and enjoy a romantic environment free from bottle service, hookah smoke and VIP sections — general trappings of today’s nightlife scene.
Whitney Jones, Slow Drag’s creator and producer, said the party sticks to her original mission.
One summer evening in 2019, Jones was home listening to Marvin Gaye’s 1976 “I Want You” album and decided she wanted to go out to hear ‘70s music. She researched where she could go in Atlanta but kept getting suggestions to spots where her age group wasn’t exactly the target audience.
“Some of the spots were places where my mother would frequent, and I didn’t want to hang out with her peers. The people I kept asking were telling me to let them know when I found out because nobody seemed to have the answer,” Jones said.
Credit: Kaya Clark
Credit: Kaya Clark
A friend convinced Jones to produce a quarterly dance party, so she came up with Slow Drag, a Black social gathering for audiophiles who want to hear more than popular hit songs. She invited deejay Noura “Lady Marauder” Gordon, who is now Slow Drag’s musical director, to spin records.
Jones hosted the first Slow Drag on Valentine’s Day 2020, at a house she rented in East Atlanta. She said guests were staring at each other and behaving like wallflowers until Gordon played Stevie Wonder’s “If You Really Love Me.”
“The room erupted from everybody singing along, clapping and dancing, and it blew me away. It was warm, cozy and had a sensuality to it,” she said. “We wanted to relive the first event and make it feel exclusive. I want to see Black bodies close together, slow-dancing and touching each other,” she said.
Credit: Eye Focus
Credit: Eye Focus
People asked Jones to plan another Slow Drag but weeks later the coronavirus pandemic paused in-person activities. Still, Jones wanted to keep the event’s momentum.
She held a virtual dance party called “Computer Blue” in April 2020, which drew 30 people, then hosted a single event in 2021. In the years since, Slow Drag slowly went from a quarterly event to monthly, rotating deejays and changing locations from The Love Below Speakeasy to East Atlanta Treehouse and Pal’s Lounge, before settling at Atlantucky in September 2023.
Jones said while each event reached capacity she became concerned that switching locations would cause Slow Drag to lose its authenticity and target audience.
“I wanted Slow Drag to maintain its intimacy and remain a safe space strictly for Black people. Smaller crowds would allow that, but people were coming more and more,” she said, “so I just decided to give in to what was happening. Since then, I’ve never had any type of altercations, drama or mess, because it attracts an audience that just wants to feel safe, free, vulnerable and hear good music.”
Credit: Eye Focus
Credit: Eye Focus
This year Slow Drag is hosting a Valentine’s Day house party called “Sugar Shack” at a private residence in Decatur. Attendees of the sold-out event will receive the address the day before it begins and no tickets will be available for purchase at the door.
On Saturday, Slow Drag will debut “the Jheri Curl,” a spinoff event created by Gordon, at Atlantucky Brewing.
Named after the popular (and often parodied) moisturized curly hairstyle, the Jheri Curl departs from Slow Drag’s regular playlist in favor of 1980s ballads, funky grooves and dance records. Attendees are asked to dress in 1980s costumes and attire.
Gordon, who spins all vinyl during her sets, said the Jheri Curl acknowledges the rich tapestry of Black music and pop culture beyond superstars like Michael Jackson, Prince and Tina Turner.
“Some of our brothers and sisters have yet to discover Rene and Angela, Tom Browne, Loose Ends, Klymaxx, Kashif and The S.O.S. Band, among countless others,” Gordon said, “so the goal is to bring their Black bodies back to the dance floor so they can smile to the music, cry while singing the lyrics and have a damn-good Black time to those tracks.”
Credit: Carlos York
Credit: Carlos York
Smyrna resident Jacke Harpe has attended Slow Drag since the first event. He said he’s seen the event grow and attract like-minded music lovers.
“It’s a great atmosphere filled with energy. You see smiles, closeness and unapologetic Blackness everywhere from Black people who are not worrying about the ins and outs of current Atlanta nightlife,” Harpe said.
Jones is hosting Slow Drag in other cities with large Black populations like Chicago and Baltimore, with hopes to unite lovers of Black music who yearn for closeness. Its New Orleans stop happens on March 29.
“I just want people to have fun, and you just never know who’s feeling this music the way that you’re feeling it,” Jones said.
Credit: Maurice Daniels
Credit: Maurice Daniels
Mathis said she and Roberts will continue to support Slow Drag because it’s a Black- and woman-led production which prioritizes community building and providing Black patrons an alternative space to enjoy themselves.
“We’re always in for an experience. It’s a family reunion environment with high vibrations that brings class, elegance, Black love and excellence to the culture,” she said.
Sugar Shack. 10 p.m. Friday. Address provided from the organizer upon purchasing tickets. slowdrag.co
The Jheri Curl. 10 p.m. Saturday. Atlantucky Brewing, 170 Northside Drive, Atlanta. 678-705-2630. slowdrag.co
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