Episode 106: Chatting With DJ Craze

In Episode 106, we have a really special treat for you!

Hailing from Miami, Florida, we landed an extra special interview with the ONE, THE ONLY, DJ CRAZE!

For those of you not hip to DJ Craze, he’s an award winning turntablist and record producer, known for his skillful mixing of genres like hip hop and Miami bass, trap, breaks, and drum & bass. To date, he is the only solo DJ in history to win the DMC World DJ Championships three times consecutively…so if ANYONE has anything to say about DJing, this guy is probably one to listen to.

 

* Note: we apologize for the audio quality, as our call recording app failed on us and we had to recover the audio from a background recording. Thanks to Trip's hours of hard work, the recording is much more listenable... but those who listen to the podcast in their car (or other noisy environments) may want to save this one for home listening.

First we get a little background on DJ Craze, but then we start to cut right to the chase. Back in July, Craze sent out the following tweet:

“The dj culture is a joke cause YALL have made it a joke. We've always been here repping the artform ... lame edm producers made it a joke”

Starting from there, we launch in to a discussion about the phenomenon of EDM blowing up in the US, and the effect it's had on DJ culture.

Then we try to get to the heart of #realdjs - how it became the "battle cry" for those trying to preserve the culture, but it has become misused over time. Craze’s answer to this might actually shock you! It was actually meant to educate people about the art of DJing, rather than those who use DJing as a chance to play some remixes or edits and put their hands in the air to cheerlead for an hour. With high profile DJs who do next to nothing and yet make insane amounts of money out there, Craze felt the need to show people “what real DJing is, TO ME.”

We also talk about a lot of different topics. Why he prefers Traktor, what music is on his iPhone, his current favorite hip-hop artists, thoughts on mumble rap and where hip-hop is headed.

All in all, this interview was an honor, and we had a blast talking with him and we are sure you will love it, too.

"DJing, and hip hop in general, was kinda my escape from the whole world. I come from nothing; you know, five of us in a one-bedroom apartment. Hip hop was a voice for those of us in the inner city who didn't have shit. And that's what I loved about it. So I surrounded myself in hip hop culture. And that's what attracted me to become a DJ and turntablist. I couldn't rap, I couldn't break, I couldn't graff.... but I wanted to be part of this culture that I loved so much. And that helped me to understand the world." — DJ Craze, Passionate DJ Epsiode 106