By mid-day Wednesday, “Bustin’ Loose” was blaring out of the Shaw Metro PCS speakers, signaling that a decades-long D.C. tradition will continue.

For the past two weeks, the store on “Chuck Brown Way” was forced to turn off its go-go beats, which had been cranking from stereos outside the store since it opened in 1995.

Owner Don Campbell told DCist that T-Mobile, which owns Metro PCS, instructed him to stop playing music outside because a nearby resident had threatened the company with a lawsuit. He says that he’s “real proud the community came together. It’s big.”

On Wednesday, T-Mobile CEO John Legere said the company will allow the go-go to continue. “I’ve looked into this issue myself and the music should NOT stop in D.C.!” Legere tweeted. “@TMobile and @MetroByTMobile are proud to be part of the Shaw community – the music will go on and our dealer will work with the neighbors to compromise volume.”

Since the weekend, #DontMuteDC had become a rallying cry for folks angry that the go-go music on the corner of Florida and Georgia avenues had been silenced. There were demonstrations in support of the store, and of go-go and D.C. culture more broadly, on Monday and Tuesday nights. A petition calling for the reinstatement of the music gathered more than 61,000 signatures

Mayor Muriel Bowser was among the political voices that called upon T-Mobile to reconsider its decision, which Campbell says was “big time.” (“She can’t afford two missed cool points,” Jerome Kennedy told DCist as he browsed the selection of CDs inside the Metro PCS store. “She already said she don’t like mumbo sauce.”) It wasn’t just the mayor. Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and At-Large Councilmember Robert White both contacted T-Mobile and attended rallies in support of Metro PCS. Hours after the music returned on Wednesday, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White was in front of the store, bopping to the beat.

The return of the tradition “is a result of what can happen when people stand up for what’s right in our community,” says Ward 8’s White. “We’re back in action and we’re turning it up some more.”

The store has been seen as a bulwark of old D.C. in a neighborhood that has rapidly developed over the past decade and a half. The silencing of Metro became another flashpoint in a debate over whether new residents are sanitizing the city, and more evidence to many that Chocolate City had grown vanilla.

Campbell told DCist that T-Mobile said the complaint came from a resident of The Shay, a neighboring luxury mixed-use development. The building complex released a statement say it was “not involved in any action regarding the Metro PCS store. The opinion of a purported resident is theirs alone and does not represent The Shay, or the entirety of its residents or management.”

The “excessive volume” of music coming from the store is a “quality of life issue,” Anita Norman, the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner who represents the district that includes Metro PCS, told DCist earlier this week. “I’m all for them playing music, but at a reasonable volume.”

Norman isn’t a new resident. She was born in D.C. and attended Howard University. She has involved multiple D.C. agencies, which have come out and measured the volume, but so far, the store remains in compliance with the law. There is a bill at the D.C. Council that would change the way officials measure sound in the city.

Campbell says that he is ready to talk to neighbors about the music’s volume. “We’re gonna try to keep it respectful,” he says.

But fans of go-go feel like the Metro PCS is being unfairly targeted in a neighborhood filled with nightlife. “If you can have the rooftop at Nellie’s and people partying all night, we can have a few seconds of go-go as we walk by,” Diane Lyons told DCist on Wednesday. She was handing out stickers that said “I ❤️ LOVE GO-GO #DontMuteDC” at the press conference outside Metro PCS.

Go-go has long been the counterpoint to those who say the District is a federal city without culture. The genre “has always been the heartbeat of this town,” Christopher Proctor, the founder of go-go band TOB, said in front of the Metro PCS on Wednesday. The funky music is part of D.C.’s sonic landscape, especially in Shaw, which used to be populated with go-go clubs.

“This corner is often where many hear go-go for the first time,” Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who represents the neighborhood of the Metro PCS, wrote in a letter to Legere of T-Mobile. “The music that has played there since at least 1995—and the CDs sold next door—have kept this cultural spirit alive.”

The mood was joyous in front of Metro PCS on Wednesday when the news broke that the store could continue playing its music. Cars driving by honked their horns and the crowd cheered and danced.

“I was having a bad day this morning, but this made it better,” says Precious Thompson, who was born and raised in D.C. She went to Shaw Junior High School and remembers walking home by Metro PCS as the music blared. “I couldn’t wait to walk this way,” she says.

Ron Moten, the community activist who started the petition, says that what happened to Metro PCS is part of a larger story of black-owned businesses in D.C. being targeted by complaints from newer residents. He vows to take the momentum from #DontMuteDC to support other establishments. The speakers on Wednesday all acknowledged that turning up the music only happened because people decided to make a stand.

Campbell was a man of few words at a press conference, expressing his appreciation for the community support. “I’m feeling good,” he said.

And as people gathered out front of his store to celebrate the news, Campbell returned inside. He had to pick a new CD.

Campbell says is most excited to play Chuck Brown over the speakers. “It’s Chuck Brown Way, so we definitely gotta play that,” he tells DCist. “We’re trying to keep the music alive—that’s the mission. I’m real proud the community came together. It’s real big.”

That’s when Jerome Kennedy walks inside, looking for recommendations for a new go-go CD.

Campbell looks at his shelves, all filled with go-go CDs, and chooses one for Kennedy.

“Is is cranking?” Kennedy asks.

“Yes, sir,” Campbell says with a smile. “I’ll tell you what’s hot right now.”

Previously:
‘This Is The Sound Of Florida And Georgia Avenue’: Go-Go Fans Are Trying To Bring The Music Back To Metro PCS
Shaw’s Metro PCS Store Has Been Forced To Turn Off Its Go-Go Music, Owner Says

This story has been updated with more details.