Music
A quick-fire history of US DJ culture
Ahead of the 2017 Red Bull 3Style US National Final in Washington DC on November 29, last year’s US champ DJ Trayze gives us six must-know things about US and DC DJ culture.
The US is, quite probably, the cradle of modern DJ culture. It began in the '70s with disco legends Nicky Siano and David Mancuso and evolved at lightning-fast speed into the various strands of DJing that we know and love today and which have transformed dance music into the world's dominant sound.
Ahead of the 2017 Red Bull 3Style US National Final at U Street Music Hall in Washington DC on November 29, which will feature DJ hopeful Boi Jeanius, DJ Ease, DJ FingerSmith, Bo, DJ Diggy Dutch and DJ Frazier Davis, we blast through US DJing history with 2016 3Style National Champion DJ Trayze – here are his six need-to-know things about US DJ culture.
Watch the Red Bull 3Style US National Final livestream from 9pm EST on 29 November (3am CEST on 30 November) at facebook.com/redbull3style.
1. It all started in New York City
“Disco is what really set it off,” says reigning US 3Style champion DJ Trayze. “Slip-cueing and beat-matching disco records was the foundation. Then hip-hop and breakbeat looping was born.” DJing as we know it, then, began in New York's disco havens Paradise Garage and Studio 54, with Nicky Siano and Larry Levan paving the way for what came later, from Kool Herc and Jam Master Jay’s pioneering hip-hop sounds to the Chicago house music spun by Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles and Jesse Saunders, and the industrial techno explored by Derrick May and co.
Frankie Knuckles
© Dan Wilton/Red Bull Content Pool Photo
2. These are the important clubs
Historically? Take your pick. The Loft, Studio 54, Paradise Garage, Webster Hall, Latin Quarters and Union Square in New York; The Warehouse in Chicago; Cheeks and The Music Institute in Detroit. They all birthed different strands of US DJ culture, from disco and early hip-hop to house and techno. But DJ Trayze thinks there are still plenty of killer clubs in modern-day US cities like Washington DC: “Like Tropicalia, U Street Music Hall, and other DC venues where you don’t feel obligated to go in a certain direction,” he says. “There are no expectations. Just play good music and get the people moving. Old, new, any genre.”
3. Turntablists are propelling DJ culture into the future
What we know today as open-format DJing – anything-goes spinning done with skill, precision and experimental flourishes – was inspired by hip-hop DJs and extrapolated on by California’s DJ Z-Trip, San Francisco’s DJ QBert, and their West Coast contemporaries Beat Junkies and Invisibl Skratch Piklz. Open-format DJing is currently enjoying a renaissance. “I think it’s great when real turntablists and technically skilled DJs are getting shine,” says Trayze. “We aren’t just pressing play and jumping up and down. You’re getting a full experience unlike anything else, something unique and different from the mainstream. In most clubs, open-format is the move right now. Nightlife is in a weird transitional period where you can really find whatever you want to listen to, in any city, on any given night.” Trayze shouts out A-Trak, Craze and Four Color Zack as America’s best current turntablists.
DJ QBert
© Yusaku Aoki / Red Bull Content Pool
4. DJs' selections differ from one US city to another
Every major city in the US has a sound that it's synonymous with and open-format DJs like DJ Trayze and his 3Style rivals nod to these local scenes in their wide-ranging sets. “I always try to touch on some local styles when I play out of town,” explains Trayze. “I think DJs in the past five to ten years are starting to embrace specific genres and styles made popular in cities other than their own, in order to expand and learn more. This has been accelerated by the internet, too. Everyone is sharing, which is great.”
5. In DC, there are two big sub-genres that DJs like to play
“Go-go music has always been a local DC foundation as far as urban music is concerned,” Trayze explains. “It’s a fusion of funk and hip-hop, all played by a live band. From legends like Chuck Brown, Junkyard, Rare Essence and Backyard Band, to newer groups like TCB and Mambo Sauce. I think even hip-hop takes a back seat to go-go sometimes in DC.” Moombahton, too, comes from DC and over the past eight years or so has influenced tracks by such dance-music scene heavyweights as Dillon Francis and Major Lazer. The sound's conception was complicated says Trayze: ”It's a mid-tempo, bass-heavy, Caribbean-Latin style made popular – and I think even named after – Dave Nada's track Moombahton, which is a slowed-down remix of Moombah by Silvio Ecomo & Chuckie.”
6. DJ Trayze's preferred sound is from nearby Baltimore
"Baltimore Club music – or B-more – is a personal favourite of mine, and it definitely has a huge influence on my sound, my remixes, and what I play in clubs. DJs like K-Swift, Scottie B, DJ Technics, DJ Class. I’d say B-more is one of my top five styles to play. Two of the most popular Baltimore club songs around are I'm The Ish by DJ Class and Samir’s Horns by Debonair Samir. Hard-hitting drums, 130 bpm, crazy sample chops and high energy."
7. DC has plenty of musical landmarks to check out
"Places like the Howard Theatre, 9:30 Club, and even newer clubs like U Street Music Hall are all places to get a taste of the best music in DC. There are so many other legendary places that have come and gone, and others still remain open." Trayze cites Republic Gardens, where Ella Fitzgerald played; Bohemian Caverns, which played host to John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bill Evans and the '60s free-jazz explosion; fellow jazz hotspot Blues Alley; and Constitution Hall, which has witnessed monumental music shows as well as the filming of TV game show Jeopardy! "DC was also the home to music legends like Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, and many others," adds Trayze.
