Right now it feels like we’re playing a role, like me and a couple of my friends, in where popular culture is going. That’s a very rare thing in a person’s life to be able to be a part of that. It’s a responsibility I take seriously.
A-TRAKI think one of the biggest things that’s changed in terms of the rapport with the crowd is that now crowds come to hear our songs. We’re getting closer and closer to an artist performance.
More A-Trak Quotes
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I’ve been doing it since I was prepubescent when I loved to scratch records and play good music. As it happens, you know I sort of fell into the mix. I really feel like I played a role in bringing dance music to America years ago.
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I worked with him for years. I still think Kanye [West] is one of the most important people in music in the last ten years.
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The essential component of being a DJ is setting the mood; it’s playing to the context. So that if you’re not able to adapt from one context to another, then you’re not a DJ.
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It’s a good feeling to have something to stand for in any part of your life. It’s like personal integrity.
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That’s what a DJ is at the end of the day – someone who leads where the music goes. The only thing that’s changed is that in America, people have woken up in the last few years and realized it.
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I’m one of the few DJs who uses turntables. I’m the only DJ that’s scratching.
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One thing that I learned in recent years from working more with other people is this idea that part of a producer’s job is to make people comfortable and confident.
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That was my challenge then, how to make scratching still fun for someone who didn’t necessarily come to hear that. It was fun to develop that technique. And now in dance music – I’m still a hip-hop guy at heart, but I love dance music.
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Building the scene, going out and doing shows and connecting with the fans, cultivating the fanbase in all these cities. I’m very glad that it’s happening.
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I’m not even a trained producer. I just keep following my ear and working on stuff until it sounds the way I like it.
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There’s a ton of amazing music that’s not getting heard.
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There are things I like, there are things I strongly dislike. In my DJ sets and in my production I just gravitate towards what I like.
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When I get up I still check the rap blogs before I check any kind of dance stuff.
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I love disco and we sample it a lot for Duck Sauce. For me, that sound is kind of a new manifestation.
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A few guys will get up there with turntables as purists, to play vinyl or whatever.
A-TRAK