There’s not a more compelling story than when Tinaturnup, the supposed 17-year old club prodigy from Denmark was revealed to be the brainchild of DJ Sliink and Nadus, two of the pioneers of Jersey Club. Nadus even expressed that using the Tinaturnup moniker was when he received the most recognition and outreach. This was 7 years ago. We have to do better.
I still never got more music work offers than that two weeks of emails. Everyone wanted to toss us coin and work when they thought two niggas from Newark were a white chick from Denmark. https://t.co/hHapSNNId2
— Nadus (@Nadus) June 3, 2020
While the story came to the forefront again in the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement back in June 2020, the secret had already been out since at least 2016. The two things we can learn from this? 1) Anonymity does work as marketing. And 2) Racism is still rampant in the music industry.
While we’re always working towards a more progressive and inclusive community, we have to acknowledge this as proof: If you’re white in EDM, it’s easier for you to succeed. Honestly, it feels weird that the first time we’re posting about either DJ Sliink and Nadus in years is because of Tinaturnup. But we thought this story was worthwhile sharing.
If i ghost produced for some random dude in EU… yall would flock… we proved it once with Tina Turntup..
— Nadus (@Nadus) November 1, 2016
On a lighter note, the music “Tinaturnup” made banged. It was hard for me to choose a bootleg for #tbt‘s first edition of the year, but I couldn’t pass on babygirl Aaliyah. This ‘Rock The Boat’ remix flaunts Jersey Club’s signature bed squeaks, bouncey drums, and syncopated claps to make this R&B classic even sexier. We didn’t even know that was possible.
