The Paradox

The Paradox was a South Baltimore dance club that opened in 1991 and closed in 2017. It was originally a home to house music, but later on got more of a hip hop feel.[1] The club closed in the summer of 2016. The club was founded by Wayne Davis. He first started out DJing in 1976 at Odell's, another popular night club in Baltimore, until 1988. This is when he opened his own club call Fantasy that resided in a simple three story house. The Paradox started similarly in just an open building with a concrete floor. The building wasn't as important as the energy that it was filled with.[2]

History

The Paradox was seen as a place for the citizens of Baltimore to freely express their personalities and have a fun night out, the club was just as important for the people as it was for the producers. KW Griff described the club as a testing ground; if it didn't sound good at The Paradox then they knew they had to fix something.[3] A major factor to the club's success was its focus on music, it's what club's owner Wayne Davis built the club around. Dj Oji Morris says "...it definitely has one of the best sound systems that I've ever played on outside of maybe Japan. So I don't know where else you will be able to go and experience the music like at Paradox."[4] The club marked important events in the careers of many notable Djs and Promoters in the Baltimore Club Music scene such as K-Swift, Scott Henry, Leroy Burgess Jr., Scottie B and Charles Feelgood. With the announcement of the club's closure many of Baltimore's citizens will see a large part of their lifetime fade away.

After 25 years of dominating the Baltimore Club scene, the Paradox closed its doors permanently, following a social media announcement[5] by club owner Wayne Davis in October 2015. This news came less than five years after a full renovation of the club,[6] which aimed to draw larger crowds, and mirrored the recent closings of other notable Baltimore hotspots, including the locally famous Club Fantasy. Despite its apparent success and popularity within the community, the Paradox struggled to make a profit in its later years, particularly due to dwindling alcohol sales.[7] Due to decreased revenue and a waning interest in the music most associated with the club, Wayne Davis was forced to it down and sell the property. The location which the Paradox occupied will be taken over[8] by Hammerjack's, another long-standing hallmark of Baltimore's music scene—although notably less focused on the club music the city is known for. While the Paradox's closing marks the end of an era, the culture and musical genre which it cultivated over the years still thrives within similar bastions of Baltimore Club music like Club Choices, and in the sound of recent breakout artists such as Tate Kobang.

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References
  1. Weigel, Brandon (13 October 2015). "Legendary Club Paradox Will Close Next Year". www.citypaper.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  2. McCabe, Bret (21 June 2016). "Man of the House: For four decades Wayne Davis has shown that to build a club you start with the music". www.citypaper.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  3. Embert, Casey. "We Made All This Shit! The history of Unruly Records, which just celebrated 20 years, tells the history of Baltimore club music". citypaper.com. citypaper.com. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  4. Paper, Baltimore City. "Man of the House: For four decades Wayne Davis has shown that to build a club you start with the music". citypaper.com. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  5. Entertainment, Paradox (2015-10-13). "Paradox Entertainment - Timeline | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Paradox Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  6. Maza, Erik (2012-04-20). "Paradox still king: No other club holds a candle to this renovated South Baltimore institution, which has been around for 21 years". The Baltimore Sun. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  7. Embert, Casey (2016-06-22). "We Made All This Shit! The history of Unruly Records, which just celebrated 20 years, tells the history of Baltimore club music". Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  8. Sisk, Josh (2013-09-13). "Best Long Goodbye: The Paradox". Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved 2016-10-31.

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