Moodymann just remixed Dames Brown and its dropping in three days.
The Moodymann remix of Take Me As I Am lands on Defected Records on May 15 as an exclusive 7 inch vinyl. Two Detroit legends. One track. Three days to wait.
In three days, on May 15, Defected Records releases the Moodymann remix of Take Me As I Am by Dames Brown on an exclusive 7 inch vinyl. If that sentence alone does not make you stop what you are doing, let us explain why it should.
Moodymann is one of the most fiercely respected figures in Detroit house music. Dames Brown are a Detroit vocal trio who spent nearly a decade building their craft before releasing one of the most celebrated house albums of 2026 earlier this year. The original track was recorded at the home studio of the late Amp Fiddler, the Detroit legend who mentored the trio before his passing in 2023. Now Moodymann has taken that track and done something entirely his own with it, and the result lands this Friday as the first pressing on a limited 7 inch.
The timing, with Movement Festival returning to Hart Plaza in Detroit in eleven days for its 20th anniversary edition, couldn't feel more loaded with meaning.
Who Dames Brown are and why this remix matters so much
Athena Johnson, Teresa Marbury and LaRae Starr started out as backing singers before being discovered by Amp Fiddler, the Parliament-Funkadelic affiliated Detroit producer who gave them their name and brought them into his studio. Their debut album Take Me As I Am landed on Defected Records on January 21, 2026 and was built almost entirely within Amp's home studio before his death. The record weaves together fourteen tracks of Detroit soul, gospel, funk, house, and techno, featuring collaborations with fellow Motor City figures Andrés, Eddie Fowlkes and Waajeed alongside multiple appearances from Amp Fiddler himself across the tracklist.
The album was widely praised across the music press. DJ Mag described it as instantly timeless. Mixmag gave it significant coverage on release. Billboard noted that the record carried all the soul, style, funk, and feeling you would hope to find from a trio rooted this deeply in Detroit's musical identity. It's kind of debut that arrives fully formed and leaves no doubt about who made it or where it came from.
Their connection with Defected goes back almost a decade, beginning with an early collaboration with Sophie Lloyd and continuing through contributions to releases from The Vision, Floorplan, Horse Meat Disco, Louie Vega, and Josh Milan, and Folamour. The debut album was the culmination of all of that, a record that finally put Dames Brown at the centre of the story rather than supporting someone else's
What Moodymann did with the track
The remix has been in circulationin a very specific way since late 2025. Moodymann first played it as an exclusive dubplate at Amsterdam Dance Event before it was ever officially announced, which is exactly the kind of move that builds anticipation without a single press release being involved. People who were in those rooms heard it. Word traveled. By the time the official announcement came, the demand was already there.
What Moodymann brought to the track is what Moodymann always brings: a deeply personal sense of groove that doesn't announce itself builds slowly until you realize you have been completely absorbed by it. The remix takes the warmth and soul of the original and reshapes it into something more pointed and dancefloor-orientated without losing any of the emotional weight of what made the original track significant in the first place.
There is something fitting about the pairing that goes beyond just two Detroit artists working together. Moodymann has spent decades representing a version of Detroit music built on soul, honesty and a complete refusal to follow trends. Amp Fiddler, who shaped the original recording, operated from the same place. The remix feels like a continuation of that lineage rather than a reinterpration of it.
Why this is one of the most significant Detroit releases of 2026
Moodymann remixing a Dames Brown track produced by Amp Fiddler and releasing it on Defected three days before Movement Festival to Detroit for its 20th anniversary is not just a music release. It's a document of where Detroit house music stands right now: rooted in its history, honoring its elders, and still producing work that feels urgent and alive rather than nostalgic.
The 7 inch vinyl is the first format. The release on Defected Records follows on May 15 digitally alongside the physical pressing. Pre-order is available now at store.defected.com. This is one of those records that the people who care about house music will be talking about long after the Movement weekend is over.
Three days. Detroit made this. Go and don't miss out on this.
