Music
The DJ sharing footwork, Chicago's most dynamic dance scene
DJ Taye is only 23, but the Teklife artist is already taking on the responsibility of growing footwork around the world.
Chicago’s juke and footwork music, the so-called bastard child of house and hip-hop with roots dating back to mid-1980s dance routines, has changed the global landscape of modern electronic music since rising to the spotlight in 2010. DJ Taye, the 23-year-old member of the Teklife crew, is one of the handful of creators carrying the torch. He keeps the flame burning at home while also teaching those abroad about the music that runs through his veins. Touring worldwide with his contemporaries playing to a rapidly growing fan base, he is a key player in keeping footwork culture pure to its form, while not being afraid to take in outside influences.
Teklife's DJ Taye
© Zoe Rain
When I first heard footwork, the feeling was indescribable to me
Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Taye’s musical journey began at a young age. He picked up the trumpet and at around 8 years old, he began performing at family reunions and at talent shows that his mother entered him. As he grew older, he began hearing the local juke sound he would eventually pursue at school parties and local events such as the Bud Billiken parade, an annual back-to-school celebration of black youth. When he and his friends found a CD of underground anthems on the street, he became aware of his calling. “By the time I turned 11, I was already making beats, regular rap beats … then I heard footwork. I thought, this is the greatest music I’ve ever heard in my life,” Taye said. “When I first heard it, the feeling was indescribable to me, I was like, ‘Why isn’t everybody else talking about this?’ It’s so in your face, why isn’t this included with other electronic music?”
Like many other DJs of the culture, Taye expressed an interest in dancing too, first trying out for various groups throughout the city. “Everybody dances," he said. "The best way I can put it, if I step up at BGz [Battle Groundz, one of the weekly battles on the South Side] and I start dancing, I be like, ‘You didn’t know I could dance did you?’ But people are like, ‘Nah I expected it from you, you make music, you know the beat.’” Footwork is extremely competitive, both in the studio and on the floor, so knowing the mechanics inside and out is a huge advantage. It’s tradition to jump inside the circle after being behind the decks at a party, and vice versa, and Taye knows the steps are sacred to his art.
The late 2000s — when rap duo Dude ’N Nem’s juke-rap anthem Watch My Feet was all over the radio — was Juke’s peak in popularity locally. Eventually the rise of rappers like Chief Keef and Chance the Rapper led to the homegrown hip-hop explosion taking over the city, while the sound of juke kept brewing out of the public eye. “They started calling dance music ‘EDM,’ and drill music happened, while footwork was low-key underground blowing up,” Taye reflects. While mostly out of the local spotlight by the time the decade ended, footwork began getting noticed by international DJs via YouTube, sparking the flame that led eyes to once again look toward Chicago as a cradle of innovation.
A Body in Motion
© Zoe Rain
At the forefront of this evolution were DJs such as Rashad and Spinn, who caught the attention of Taye while he was still in middle school. It was at the Sunday night meet-up Battle Groundz that he met his future mentors, who held a tryout for Ghettoteknitianz, their tight-knit crew of creators. Some of Taye’s own music had caught the ears of the two pioneers and they decided to take him under their wings. “I had never approached them, but It was pretty natural," Taye explained. "I played them some tracks and they said ‘Yeah, you’re good,’ and I was in.”
Rashad and Spinn would go on to start their Teklife movement, dedicated to showcasing the sound and lifestyle they had pioneered, bringing Taye along with them. He’s since become a main force in extending its reach to the rest of the world, constantly touring stateside and abroad. Unfortunately, in 2014 DJ Rashad’s life ended much too short, leaving a big hole in the hearts of Teklife members and fans. “Rashad always had a really good positive energy around him, he always had a good vibe and always knew what to say,” Taye remembers. “He’s one of those people that I’m just so deeply blessed to have even met.”
Taye’s tracks are guided by clouds of thick smoke — psychedelic and soulful with lofty synths and muddled vocals. They’re meditations on long bus rides through the far South Side, reflections of the Chicago landscape passing by out the window during the commute. All the key elements that make up the footwork sound are there: paeans to past decades by means of fuzzy samples of old R&B and house, inside jokes and everyday slang, and jittery percussion as a roadmap for feet to follow. Since 2012, Taye has put out several releases, such as the self-released Overdose on Teklife and Just Coolin mixtapes, and his Break it Down and Move Out EPs, both on Hyperdub.
Taye’s newest effort, his upcoming debut album on Hyperdub is his most realized work to date, and a big step forward. “It really encapsulates my journey as an artist from when I started out,” he says. “This is the aftermath of being deeply connected with Rashad, and him inspiring my career to make things really blow to the end of the universe.” Many footwork tracks are just that, tracks, functional and stripped down, made for the floor and nowhere else. His new body of work showcases his evolution into taking songwriting more seriously, without leaving behind the skeletal drum madness of his craft. “At the end of the day, it’s still footwork,” Taye says. “But there’s so many different layers and ways that it stops and slows down and starts, it’s like, this is a song!”
When DJ Rashad tragically passed, the footwork community was left with figuring out the fate of their world without the aid of their leader. Those left behind needed to keep things moving, so their mentor’s work would not be in vain. “He wanted this, he wanted footwork to take over,” Taye said. With a new global audience, fans outside the city of its creation have turned into self-proclaimed producers of its sonics, most without ever having set foot at a battle. While growth is important to its health, many Chicagoans like Taye are fighting to keep their tradition alive both locally and globally in its purest form, spreading their gospel afar but not forgetting where they came from. “Some people really get it, some people really want to expand it, but some people might just be here for the moment. At the end of the day though, I just want to see everybody footworkin'.”
Check out more great premieres, stories and videos at RedBull.com/Music
Like Red Bull Music on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @RedBullUK
Listen to Red Bull Radio for in-depth interviews, exclusive mixes, live broadcasts and more