Fresh off his ‘BEATS V 3’ mix, Craze has opted to bless fans with one final mix to make the year extra special. ‘Reloaded’ sees Craze getting back to his DnB roots. “I been a junglist ever since I first heard it on my first trip to EU in 97. I went to Munich for a hip hop show and the people that brought me out owned a record store. I was peeping the records and I didn’t know any of them so I started playing them and heard all these fast ass beats with dope basslines. One of the ones I bought that day was Dillinja’s ‘Hard Noise.’ That record changed my life forever. Since then I’ve been into DnB and spun it for a long time but took a break because I kinda got fed up with politics in that scene. Nothing crazy, just didn’t like chasing dubplates,” he explains.
Fans have been clamoring for Craze to return to the Drum & Bass world for quite some time and it was his show last year at Respect LA that helped to reignite the flame. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the genre, ‘Reloaded’ is the perfect mix. It features some of the hottest tracks of the year along with a few classics double dropped for good measure.
So does this mean Craze is back to DnB for good? “‘Reloaded’ just signifies my interest in DnB is back and I’m ready to buss off into DnB again…I’m bullshitting….I just needed a title hahaha. I’m definitely dropping some DnB music in 2019. I got tunes ready to go and some cool collabs in the works that I can’t talk about,” Craze says. While it may not be a full DnB return, we can at least expect more in the near future.
2019 is shaping up to be an interesting year for Craze as the legendary DJ says he’ll only be supporting music he loves. He expanded on this saying, “Well, as a DJ you play music that you know will kill it at clubs. But I’m kinda moving past that now. And actually I’m going back to how I started. After winning the DMCs people would come to my shows and expect to hear what I liked not what was hot at the moment. DJing in general was different back then because that’s what a lot of DJs used to do. But the bigger that DJing became I think we lost focus of individuality and we all started playing the big tunes cause we all want that big reaction. I’m not there anymore…I don’t wanna play music for people (I know that sounds crazy) I just wanna play music that I like and give people a taste of what I really like. It’s like those sushi restaurants where you don’t order, the cook gives you what he wants you to taste. I wanna be that but in DJing…trust my taste and I’ll give you that good good that you never thought you might like.”
