Today we have the honour of presenting you with a guest mix from an underrated legend: Dj Ride. For those of you unfamiliar, Dj Ride has over 10 years in the game as DJ. As a skilled turtablist he has 2 IDA world championships under his belt and 6 national titles. As a producer, he’s constantly pushing the boundaries of bass music while injecting elements of hip-hop and turntablism. With recent releases on Jadu Dala, Saturate, Block Society & OTODAYO, he’s in high demand. Thankfully he was able to make time out of his schedule to put together a stellar mix for us. The 33 minute set puts Dj Ride’s originals at the forefront, while mixing in familiar sounds of ‘Chicken Soup,’ Kendrick Lamar, Fat Joe and many others in new and exciting ways. Listen to the mix and check out our interview below. Don’t forget to grab the free download here.
What should listeners expect from the mix? What was your goal in putting it together?
For this mix my main goal was playing some of my last releases and some ID’s, from ‘Hoods Up’ with LEVITATE, to ‘Mean’ with Abelation, or the track ‘Turn it up’ that I made with the duo PURGE. Mixed of course with some of my favorite bangers right now. I recorded the mix live with my two turntables and a S9 Pioneer mixer.
Hip Hop is my first love, it gave my life a meaning.
Hip-hop seems to be a big influence on your music. Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with the genre? When did you become a fan?
Yes hip-hop is my first love, it gave my life a meaning. I started listening to hip-hop when I was 12 years old. I also had lots of electronic albums, from Daft Punk, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Fat Boy Slim, etc. So for me it was really natural to mix both worlds. My dream was becoming a producer and scratch DJ. I dedicated almost 10 years of my life to DJ battles, I won two world championships with my crew (Beatbombers) and 6 national titles, and that helped me getting gigs and playing from small clubs to big festivals.
How does hip-hop influence your current productions?
For a while I only produced hip-hop beats. I have 5 albums on some Portuguese labels, some of them have local rappers and singers. Hip-hop for me is always present, from the way I sample, or the approach I have to the different elements of the songs. And the drums have to go hard every time.
What’s your favourite hip-hop album of all time?
That’s a really difficult question, but I’d have to choose Nas’ Illmatic, to Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique, Dr Dre’s The Chronic, Jaylib’s Champion Sound, Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly and others!
we still have a really strong community and good battles all over the world, from DMC and IDA, to more open format championships like the Red Bull 3Style.
How do you feel about the current state of turntablism? Does it get enough shine?
That’s a good question, it doesn’t have the hype like the ”golden era” in the 90’s, when A-trak and Craze won the DMC with amazing battle routines. But we still have a really strong community and good battles all over the world, from DMC and IDA, to more open format championships like the Red Bull 3Style.
You started out as a scratch DJ, has your style of DJing evolved over the years?
Yes a lot! In the beginning I bought my first mixer and turntables only to scratch! I didn’t want to be a ”normal” DJ. But then with the skill I had from my turntablism background I started to mix in some partys and I realized that was really fun as well, and also a way to show my more technical side for a wider audience. Then I started to mix my favorite genres, hip-hop, electronic, dubstep, drum and bass, in the beginning only with vinyl (I have a huge record collection) and nowadays I use Serato and sometimes Ableton live (on my live acts).
What should we expect from you in terms of new music for the rest of the year?
I already have some releases coming up on good labels, and tons of collabs. My main goal right now is producing the music I really like with the maximum creative freedom possible. So stay tuned!
Your productions are very experimental and unique. How do you come up with the ideas for your tracks?
Most of the ideas come from my influences, what I hear daily, and from the energy I receive from my live shows. Also a lot of experimentation in the studio, there are a lot of elements that came from small errors, or just playing around with my analog synthesizers and other cool toys I have.
I would change music platforms algorithms, make everything more organic and less controlled by the biggest labels…
If you could change one thing about the music industry what would it be and why?
I think I would change music platforms algorithms, make everything more organic and less controlled by the biggest labels, but that will be kind of impossible right now. I’d love if people became more positive and happy with their life in general.
Tracklist:
LEViT∆TE & DJ Ride – HOODS UP
Gent & Jawns – The Meaning
Ja Rasta X Chicken Soup (Ekali Edit)
Nitro Fun & hikeii – Over (Masayoshi Iimori Remix)
92elm – Stutter
HOLLY – ID
Judge x X&G – Blades
Ghost Voices (Hex Cougar Flip)
Ian Munro – Yours
Holly & DIIIP – Submerge
Borgore – Salad Dressing ft. Bella Thorne (WILL WYLIN Remix)
Dj Ride x Far & Few – HIGH
Vestige – Yoppers (Original Mix)
Salva – Voyager
DJ RIDE & ABELATION – MEAN
DJ RIDE & METAHESH – ID
DJ RIDE & PURGE – Turn It Up
DJ RIDE & ESKEI83 – Hold Up
Snavs – Lust
Snavs – Won’t Let Us
Diffuse
Got The Love
Eliminate – Kingpin
Zenon X DJ Ride – Contaminated
BACKSEAT FREESTYLE X WAITING (DILETTAUNT EDIT)
Dj Ride – Do It
Dj Ride – ID
Balatron – Zero Caliber
DAYLE & HØST – SIGH
Dj Ride & Klahrk – V Large
BUKEZ FINEZT x YUNIS – PLAYED OUT
Gladiator X All The Way Up
Chrome Republic – Ed, Edd n Eddy
Dj Ride x Shanghai Doom – ID
