Fresh off playing two Coachella sets (solo and as half of Duck Sauce) and halfway through the 19 date Magic 8-Ball tour with Kid Sister and Gaslamp Killer, DJ A-Trak was kind enough to chat with URB about his favorite battle rapping moments, Moombahton, and the best banger to drop at a Bar Mitzvah.
When you started out in the battling scene, were there any old school rappers that you met when you who were totally awesome?
Yeah, I met a bunch of rappers in my battling days. The funniest was probably when I met Ic- T, who somehow got hired to host the US Finals for DMC in 2001, the year after I stopped battling. I was invited as a judge/guest performer and Ice T was hosting the whole event. His wife Coco was there sitting on the side of the stage and shit. He was a really good host actually.
When it was my turn to go up and do my routine, at first he just introduced me from a piece of paper, like, “Up next A-Trak’. But then he grabbed the mic and did a whole spiel at the end of the set. I actually have it on camera. “Man, see this is A-Trak. When I first saw him he seemed like some kid who’d be building a bomb in his bedroom, he didn’t look like he could get into a hip hop club, but he’s killing it and this is what hip hop is becoming.”
Of your battle sets, which was your favorite?
I think when Craze and I did the team battle together in 2000. I liked that a lot, but partly because it was towards the end of my battling. It’s the most recent one. The most accomplished in terms of what I was going towards.
Most people know the first one I did when I was 15, for awhile I wasn’t crazy about that because my style evolved a lot afterwards and the first one to me felt entry level. The later ones were much more technical. Now with hindsight, I can appreciate the appeal. But I remember when I was still battling and things were getting more complex, eveyone still wanted to see what I did when I was 15.
I think the one with Craze was really dope, doing a routine with two DJs, there’s a lot less standards and more room to invent since it hasn’t been done as much as a duo.
What’s a technique or combination that y’all did in that set?
We had this one pattern where we were both doing a beat juggle at the same time. Our arms were crossing over each other. It was crazy to look at and sounded cool too. It was either 3 or 4 turntables, I don’t remember. Each of us had our hands on two records, and the middle arms were crossing, it just looked kind of crazy.
Who’s a DJ that you’ve never seen play live that you’d like to see?
Carl Craig. And Carl Cox. Both Carls.
What’s your favorite DJ movie?
I remember when that movie Scratch came out, I was kind of bitter at the time because they didn’t put me in it. But in hindsight, it was a pretty good movie. Other than that, I haven’t seen that many movies that capture DJing as I know it.
You DJed for Kanye on tour, is there anyone else that you would step behind the decks for?
Probably not. I’m trying to stay focused on my own work. Kanye’s still probably the only rapper I’d drop everything to work with. We still talk a lot and are doing some work in the studio together. But there isn’t anyone else I’d go out on the road with.
You’ve worked with Kid Sister in the past, are there any other female vocalists – rappers or otherwise, that you see yourself collaborating with?
I’d love to work with Santigold. Singers are not hard to find. It’s a little harder to find good female rappers. For me, I look for personality in an artist. Whoever brings something unique to the table, whether they’re a guy or girl.
In terms of digital Djing, do you ever see Serato being replaced by Traktor or another digital standard?
No, I think Serato’s here to stay. The software has evolved really well. They’ve continued to grow since they first came out. It’s been about 7 years now. I just saw the guys from Serato the other day. I was the first Serato user outside of New Zealand, the first beta tester outside of their local camp, even before the software came out. So I’ve really seen it evolve. The team there is really sharp and dynamic and full of ideas. I don’t see them going away anytime soon.
I once heard a rumor that RZA claims to have invented Serato?
I’ve heard him talk about it. He claims that before Serato came out, or even Final Scratch, he was working with some company in Amsterdam when he came up with the idea and the patent. Who knows if it’s true or not, I just think it’s a cool story because the RZA is so cool.
Where do you see Fool’s Gold in two years?
Releasing more full albums. Just operating with the same mentality on a higher level.
How many copies do you usually press of a single?
We never press that many, we sell a lot more digitally. So we usually press between 1000 and 2000 vinyls. Which is still a respectful number nowadays. Even on bigger records that become very successful, like Kid Cudi “Day and Night” and Congorock “Babylon,” we still sell more digital because there’s only a finite number of people buying that wax.
What pressing company do you use?
Lately we’ve been using Rainbow.
A few genre questions – how do you feel about Moombahton?
I think it’s cool. I like the fact that people are getting open to the idea of lower BPM beats. Anything that takes dance music away from the whole trend of who’s got the biggest banger, all the harder faster stuff. I think that’s a new direction. I like the fact that people are playing Moombahton and discovering that something at 110 BPM can have it’s own groove and get people dancing too.
Do you think it’s a coincidence that a lot of the guys that were doing big Baltimore club remixes a few years ago, notably Dave Nada, are now championing this new genre?
Dave Nada invented Moombahton. But yeah it’s a culture of making edits, same idea. Making edits according to tempo. Both Baltimore Club and Moomhave a very specific tempo. You know exactly what the tempo is and you edit the song to that mold.
Are you still playing UK Funky?
Depends where I’m spinning. I did more last year, not as much lately. I still like the groove of it, the way those drum patterns work. But you’ve gotta find the right context to play it. If I’m playing a big festival in Europe and they just want to hear some shit to go crazy to, I can’t really drop some funky there. But if it’s a longer club set, then I can take it in a direction I want and play some funky stuff that the crowd wouldn’t really know but can still get into it.
Who are some UK Funky artists that you like?
Lil Silva. And Crazy Cousins were doing a lot of the major label remixes, they’ve got some good stuff too.
Let’s close with a little record rundown – what would you play at a Cinco de Mayo Party?
Hmm. The Beatnuts would be good for that. “Se Acabo,” it’s got a spanish sample in. The last song on the Musical Massacre album, there’s a whole bunch of Spanish rappers on it.
How about a song to close out the night?
For a closing song it’s good to play slowers stuff. Some oldies. Pull out something by Queen or some old soul, like Smokey Robinson type shit.
At a wedding?
“Computer Love” by Zapp.
At a really cool wedding?
Chromeo.
What about a Bar Mitzvah?
I would play “Babara Stresisand.” At this point, I think that’s a Bar Mitzvah song.
by Dan Gentile
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