Rashad was known for his good cheer, warmth, charisma, humility, and genuine interest in humanity. Instead, footwork events take place in warehouses, where people as young as 15 can participate, bringing more flavor and vitality to the movement. His passion for music went far beyond its material benefits the events he helped organize rarely took place in clubs or bars because of the limits of age restrictions. Most notably, Rashad was both present and active in the Chicago community, despite his consistent touring over the past few years. The Rollin EP is another 2013 Hyperdub standout. Double Cup is far from a footwork-pure album many of the tracks maintain slower, more accessible tempos, and the album incorporates influences from jungle, soul, and trap. After signing with the much-admired underground electronic label Hyperdub in 2012, Rashad dropped his critically acclaimed, “debut” full-length album, Double Cup, which has been compared to J Dilla’s monumental Donuts. However, footwork and the Teklife movement took off with 2012’s standout Teklife Volume 1 – Welcome to the Chi, which was released on Lit City Trax. In 2011 he released music on Ghettophiles, including the notable album Just A Taste, Vol. After the release of 2010’s Itz Not Rite, Rashad’s career took off and he began touring full-time. In 2010, Rashad and Spinn got involved with the record label Planet Mu. Rashad released a number of albums and singles on the label Juke Trax Online from 2004 to 2008, including Juke Trax Online Vol. He restructures R&B and soul samples with elements of jungle, trap, grime, and drum n bass to create tracks that are consistently unique, even when he reuses the same sample in different tracks. Technically, Rashad’s sound is all over the map. His position held such respect and leadership that it may never be filled. Despite the plethora of active members, the loss of Rashad has left a noticeable gap. The name has become well known and revered in the Chicagoland area over the past decade or so, and the collective is constantly adding new members. Central figures in the crew include DJ Spinn, DJ Manny, Traxman, Heavee D, DJ Earl, DJ Tre, DJ Taye, Boylan, DJ Phil, DJ Tmo, Taso, Tony Moondoctor, Lacey Fresh Till Def, Feloneezy, and Jackie Dagger. As a collective, Teklife now reaches beyond Illinois into other states and even countries. Teklife is, in Rashad’s own words, “just a crew of DJs and producers.” Rashad started off in a group by the name of Ghettoteknitianz, but the label Teklife was adopted as Rashad evolved outside of Chicago. With the loss of its figurehead, the future mainstream visibility of the genre is uncertain. 2014 was poised to be footwork’s breakthrough year. Footwork, which typically has tempo of 160 BPM, is also polyrhythmic-one of its distinguishing characteristics-meaning that multiple tempos (for example, both triplets and doubles) are often present in one track. The distinction between juke and footwork is tenuous, but juke is typically classified as an offshoot of house, while footwork has solidified into its own genre that has gained attention as far away as Japan, Poland, and Norway. Alongside contemporaries DJ Deeon and DJ Gant Man, he transformed juke and later became a leading pioneer of footwork. His interest in ghettohouse, Chicago’s self-tailored brand of hip-hop sampled house music, eventually led him to the juke movement. By the time he was in high school, where he formally met future fellow Teklife member, DJ Spinn, he had purchased equipment and was making his own tracks. Rashad’s musical career began with dancing and DJing in middle school. He was an iconic leader who refused to let electronic music get comfortable-a testament to the vibrancy of underground culture-and exemplified the purpose of art. Yet, even after the solidification of footwork as a movement and a genre, Rashad was never content with the routinization of its sound-or any sound, for that matter. Indeed, footwork is the only genre of electronic music that can truly be classified as 100% Chicago-born-and-bred. Consistently challenging convention, he pushed the boundaries of Chicago house music to develop a thriving genre with a unique culture. An innovator whose talents have been compared to J Dilla’s, Rashad was nothing short of a musical genius. Rashad, founder and active member of Teklife, has had a huge influence on Chicago’s electronic music scene for two decades, although his work has only attracted critical acclaim and global recognition in the past few years. Chicago’s wind whipped with grief this weekend after the unexpected loss of footwork/juke pioneer DJ Rashad Saturday afternoon.
0 kommentar(er)
