“Younger (K’ Alexi Shelby Klassik Filter Mix)” Is Nominated for Song of the Year – Multi-Genre at the 12th Annual Josie Music Award
Every so often, a collaboration comes along that feels less like a booking and more like history shaking hands with itself. That is the story of “Younger (K’ Alexi Shelby Klassik Filter Mix),” the electrifying reimagining of Irene Michaels’ anthem of reinvention — now nominated for Song of the Year – Multi-Genre at the 12th Annual Josie Music Awards, taking place September 20, 2026, at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
To understand why this record matters, you have to understand who is behind the mix. K’ Alexi Shelby is not merely a remixer — he is one of the founding fathers of Chicago house music, an artist whose education began at the age of twelve inside the Warehouse and the Music Box, learning at the feet of Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy, the men who invented the culture. His classics have appeared on the most hallowed labels in dance music history — Transmat, DJ International, and Trax Records — and his influence runs so deep that Daft Punk themselves saluted him among the “Teachers” of the genre. When Shelby touches a record, he is not chasing a trend. He is conferring a lineage.
And Irene Michaels has earned that lineage. The Chicago entertainer’s recording breakthrough, “I Like Rain,” was released through the storied TRAX Records — the very label family where Shelby helped write house music history — and went on to win the Josie Music Award for Song of the Year. Her catalog since has danced fluently between pop elegance and club heat, with remixes and collaborations that honor the sound of her hometown. The pairing of Michaels and Shelby is not a novelty. It is two Chicago artists, generations of the same musical bloodline, finally on the same record.
“Younger,” written by acclaimed composer Michael A. Levine, was already a declaration — a song about a life defined not by age but by evolution, delivered by an artist who embodies every word of it. Shelby’s Klassik Filter Mix takes that declaration to the dance floor, wrapping Michaels’ vocal in the warm, filtered pulse of classic Chicago house until the song becomes what it was always meant to be: timeless in both senses of the word.
The Josie Music Awards, the largest independent music awards organization in the world, placed the track in the Multi-Genre category — and no category could suit it better. This is a record that lives in two worlds at once: the polish of pop and the sweat of the Warehouse, the songwriter’s craft and the DJ’s instinct. The nomination is one of three Michaels carries into this year’s ceremony, alongside Artist of the Year – Pop/Pop Rock and EP of the Year – Pop for Golden — but it is the one that tells the deepest story about where she comes from.
House music was born in Chicago. So was Irene Michaels. This September in Nashville, they arrive together.
The official website for Irene Michaels may be found at https://www.irenemichaels.com
The official website for the Josie Music Awards may be found at https://www.josiemusicawards.com