12 chronic master beaters

We'll concede that it's possible to have a good time at a post-collegiate pick-up joint, where they pump out familiar Top 40 party hits. But why waste a night out with some anonymous inhuman jukebox when you can be in the presence of a—dare we say it—true artiste? Club music has its own history (see "Groove evolution," page 21) and Chicago DJs have played a key role (house was birthed here in the '80s) in the development of electronic dance music. But that was yesterday. Today, the city is home to expert sonic curators in a myriad of genres. Deep in the Chicago club scene, there are some very serious mofos, folks that know recorded music backward and forward and, most important, how to combine old tracks and new in a way that's entertaining and good for both dancing and listening. The best DJ set expresses a philosophy and makes us think about music and "going out" in a new way.

We've selected a dirty dozen of Chicago-based DJs you should know to get you started. (You can find any venues mentioned in our Clubs section.) We're just scratching the surface, obviously: Chicago has skyscrapers full of talent. And we bypassed a few familiar names in favor of some lesser-knowns who are dear to our ears. But, hey, we're picky, and you should be, too.

Derrick Carter

The house king who's reigned since the '90s renaissance of the genre
Style: Drunken monkey-mad scientist
Chicago residencies: None now, but keep your ears open
First gig ever: My family reunion in Lansing, Michigan, over Labor Day weekend in 1978
Best gig ever: I kinda like them all. Work is fun!
Worst gig ever: I tend to lose those in the fuzziness of memory.
Musical heroes: Kid Creole (August Darnell) and Chaka Khan (local girl done good)
Vice/drink of choice: Tequila and Red Bull—[the combination] gives you wings and drives you mad.
Favorite song: I've been playing records far too long to even try to pick just one. I do, however, really like this crazy Japanese woman named MU at the moment. "Paris Hilton" [on 2005's Out of Breach (Manchester's Revenge)] and "Let's Get Sick" [on 2003's Afro Finger and Gel] are both dope.
Best thing about Chicago: The people, the architecture and the 4am bar-closing times. Well, them and the Italian beef ain't bad.

Supreme Court

Courtland Green, right, along with Dante Carfanga, spreads a love of soul music that satisfies dancers and connoisseurs alike at the city's longest-running dusty-45 night
Style: Old records
Chicago residencies: First Wednesday of the month is Sheer Magic at Danny's {with Carfanga}; Sundays at Danny's (third Sunday is "Love Boat" featuring soul ballads, love dusties and steppers); every other Friday at rodan, and the occasional Sonotheque and Hideout jams
First gig ever: Ninth-grade rec room party—two tape decks and a box of hip-hop and punk tapes
Best gig ever: Although I love to throw parties, Sundays at Danny's are so mellow that I can play whatever I want, and they keep asking me back after over seven years!
Worst gig ever: I did a Christmas party for one of the bigger comedy troupes in Chicago, and drunk comedians are about as rude as they come.
Musical heroes: James Brown for pure soulful-ness, Arsenio Rodriguez for musicianship, Albert Ayler for spirituality and D Boon for honesty.
Vice/drink of choice: Bourbon and ginger ale. Kentucky roots, yo!
Favorite song: Impossible to say, but "Baby Doll" by the Fatback Band has just about everything I like in a song. As far as a mover, "There Was a Time" by JB is hard to mess with.
Best thing about Chicago: That urban-Midwest vibe is so, so real. And [Chicago Bulls guard] Kirk Hinrich.

GreenVelvet

Humorous, outrageously dressed alter ego of house jock Cajmere
Style: Techno
Chicago residencies: None, but I regularly play at Sound-Bar and Smartbar.
First gig ever: In Baltimore with the singer Dajae in the early '90s, probably '92 or '93. It just happened. I really don't have any idea on how I decided to dress up. I know that's kind of lame, but that's the truth.
Best gig ever: There isn't one that stands out more than the other. I guess it's when everyone is happy and everyone there thinks they're at a good gig.
Worst gig ever: A bad gig is when I don't play at all, I guess. When does that happen? As long as I'm performing, it's a good gig.
Musical heroes: I really enjoy people like George Clinton when he was doing the Funkadelic and Parliament stuff. Prince, Sly Stone, Grace Jones and David Bowie. I love the '70s, and I think back then it was more about the whole show. People aren't used to those kinds of performances these days, outside of rock. It's nowhere near the level it was once at.
Vice/drink of choice: That's a hard one. Too many to say.
Favorite song: Anything by Stevie Wonder.His songs are very spiritual and I lovereligious songs.
Best thing about Chicago: The deep-dish pizza. I love it.

Diz

A second-generation house legend who grew up in the '80s partying at the [now-defunct Chicago club] Muzic Box
Style: House and some downtempo
Chicago residencies: A rotating gig at Four on Tuesdays with Frique and Andrew Harris
First gig ever: At a club on North Broadway called Alcazar alongside Spencer Kincey, [a house DJ] also known as Gemini. The crowd was okay, but it was the place where I met my first true love.
Best gig ever: Two stick out. The first was at a birthday party for [DJ] Mark Farina in San Francisco in the mid-'90s. I was playing with Derrick Carter, and house music was pretty much running shit at that point. The second was at a party in L.A. called Dynagroove. I played with King Britt and could do no wrong.
Worst gig ever: I played a party in '96 in New York where the decks skipped so much that I broke the record I was playing and threw it into the crowd. I never did that rock-star shit again.
Musical heroes: Both Quincy Jones and Stevie Wonder because of their versatility and longevity.
Vice/drink of choice: Right now, I'd have to say EFFEN Black [vodka] and 7-Up. I also like Maker's Mark and Coca-Cola in mass quantities.
Favorite song: Laughter
Best thing about Chicago: The winters build character, and the caliber of talent that lives here.

DJ Heather

A pulse-pounding house DJ and founding member of the local all-female SuperJane Collective
Style: Chicago house
Chicago residencies: I play at Smartbar every month.
First gig ever: It was at the Artful Dodger in 1990. I was playing a mix-tape at a restaurant I was working at, a place called Espial [now-closed Lincoln Park spot], and this guy suggested I play some cuts over at the bar.
Best gig ever: I did a show at Club Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2001 for this Woman's Art Festival and the audience was 100 percent black. The interaction between the crowd and the DJ was definitely there. At moments there was chanting and people were hooting and hollering. The music was turned off at the end and the whole room gave me a round of applause. I was the first African-American woman to deejay in that venue, and it meant a lot.
Worst gig ever: I haven't had a worst gig, but things often get difficult due to technical problems. Normally, when people look up at the booth, they think everything is your fault, when it's normally the turntable, feedback or the monitors.
Musical heroes: Billie Holiday, Brian Eno and Chicago standards like Derrick Carter, Diz and Mark Farina. That's where deejaying comes into play—you want to play your favorite stuff.
Vice/drink of choice: I've been a tequila drinker since college. Patrõn Silver usually gets me into trouble.
Favorite song: The Brothers Johnson's version of "Strawberry Letter No. 23" reminds me of being little and spending my summer vacations at my grandparents' house in Compton, California.
Best thing about Chicago: When the weather breaks in the spring and everyone is so excited that it isn't cold anymore. The whole city's energy changes.

Johnny Love

Youthful loft party ne'er-do-well and proponent of electro, Italo, booty house, grime and more
Style: If you don't already know, that's not really my fault now, is it?
Chicago residencies: Fourth Fridays at Lava, second Thursdays at Liar's Club.
First gig ever: Wonderland in Bloomington, back in the rave days
Best gig ever: Opening for Green Velvet at Sound-Bar in July
Worst gig ever: In the azone [on Milwaukee Ave] in 2002 with Dirtwolf—it wasn't his fault. It was the dumb promoter broad's fault. That, and she had heinous armpits.
Musical heroes: [The late, seminal Chicago house DJ] Ron Hardy. Not only was he musically adventurous, he could party like a motherfucker.
Vice/drink of choice: Taut young women. Seriously? Campari and OJ.
Favorite song: Currently, Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire"
Best thing about Chicago: Other than Hot Doug's? The Opaque Project.

Lego

Feel-good house DJ who's fueled the legendary Boom Boom Room weekly for 14 years
Style: Funky, positive Latin house. It's got to have a good vibe to it.
Chicago residencies: The Boom Boom Room every Monday night at Green Dolphin, one Saturday a month at La Taberna and every third Friday at darkroom.
First gig ever: It was a party, [which] another Chicago DJ and I threw when we were sophomores in high school. It was at St. Luke's Hall, a church in Logan Square. The only turntables we had were Technics 1200s, which I had never spun on before, so in the middle of the party I called for an intermission and asked people to go in the hallway and let me practice. I had a good idea of how to spin by the time they got back.
Best gig ever: This year at SummerDance. Everyone went crazy when I played my song "El Ritmo de Verdad," which, translated, means "The rhythm that is true." I pulled off the music and people were singing the lyrics to my song.
Worst gig ever: I went to Tucson, Arizona, to do this gig, and while I was watching TV in the hotel waiting to get picked up, I saw on the news that the party I was supposed to be playing at got busted. I spent the rest of the night ordering room service and watching movies.
Musical heroes: Teena Marie, the Police and Earth, Wind & Fire
Vice/drink of choice: Water. Alcohol doesn't make me focused.
Favorite song: "Portuguese Love" by Teena Marie. The arrangement is incredible and I think it describes my style. It's funky, Latin, hard-driving and positive.
Best thing about Chicago: The different musical influences, including jazz, blues, Latin, funk andeven rock.

MattNee

Local jock who founded Kompute, a well-respected label for hard-edged house and techno
Style: House, techno, industrial, rock or even hip-hop
Chicago residencies: Kompute has a gig every third Friday at Lava.
First gig ever: I played at this place called the Half Moon Café when I was 19. It was an alternative, underage club and I had a residency there for a month or two before cops raided the place and I was kicked out.
Best gig ever: I love playing in Amsterdam and Montreal. At clubs in those cities, people are paying more attention to what's going on musically, and the clubs have a good sound system and make sure you're ready to do your job. American places can be dodgy.
Worst gig ever: I played in Iowa once and my girlfriend got a DUI leaving the venue. I had to stay for two days to get her out of jail.
Musical heroes: Traxx (see below) and Trancid. They care about the art of deejaying and don't play the same records in the same order as everybody else.
Vice/drink of choice: I haven't had a drink in five years, so I'd have to say coffee.
Favorite song: "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones. It's aggressive, gets right to the point and tells you a good story.
Best thing about Chicago: Chicago is sick. It's a metropolis, it's on a beach and there's actually a nightlife culture.

Traxx

Eclectic sonic alchemist known for genre-crossing, effects-laden sets
Style: A lover of music, one with a passion so intense that it overcomes genre divides to weave an altogether original, exciting and multitextured musical fabric
Chicago residencies: Indulge Sundays at rednofive
First gig ever: I played at this place called McGreevey's in 1985.
Best gig ever: Playing warehouse parties from 1993 to 1997. They captured the essence of energy through elements of emotion that is now lost.
Worst gig ever: I played a show at the Downtown Club in Dresden, Germany, and only ten people showed up. But the great thing is that we all created a magical moment that was broken up by the police.
Musical heroes: Ron Hardy, because he surrounded himself with a wide variety of sounds. Growing up in Chicago, he experienced firsthand the evolution of house music, and for this reason, he has a deep understanding of the history of the sound and a clear picture of its future.
Vice/drink of choice: Red wine from Italy or France
Favorite song: Some of my favorites are "The Path of Least Resistance" by the Human League, "Can I Get Some Help?" by James Brown and a very limited Masters at Work single, "I'll Be There 4 U," that features Ray Charles.
Best thing about Chicago: A wonderful skyline, nice bike paths, crazy record stores and beautiful women. But be careful.

BenPirani

Mod guitar player and member of the Rare Soul Millionaires and MODchicago 45-spinning gangs. Currently goes by "Son Buns."
Style: Big-city soul, obscure, no oldies radio
Chicago residencies: I'm at Delilah's the first Thursday of the month with Eric Colin. And maybe a new monthly at Subterranean—man, they let you jam real loud at that spot. I'm a regular up at the bimonthly North by Midwest party in Milwaukee [at the River Horse (701 E Center St, 414-264-4788)], too.
First gig ever: I deejayed my seventh-grade Valentine's dance with my old man's dual-tape deck, boombox and a Walkman for cueing.
Best gig ever: Every time I put those headphones on and get the jams turning—man I love this music. I would have to say the last North by Midwest party. Those folks really get real raw and loose up there.
Worst gig ever: Let's just say it all started with accidental ingestion of PCP.
Musical heroes: Another toughy. Curtis Mayfield is someone I really admire. Not only was his catalog flawless, particularly his '60s sides with the Impressions, but he put forth such a positive message in such wild, unsure times with "Move On Up" and "We're a Winner."
Vice/drink of choice: Why? Are you holding? I like drinks, sure. But I gotta stay hi-i-igh.
Favorite song: At the moment the track that is really, really always killing me is a Chicago cut called "Heaven is in Your Arms" by the Admirations. It's got everything I want in a club killer: banging-ass drums, massive group harmony and a sing-along chorus that knocks me the fuck out. This is not a very easy record to find.
Best thing about Chicago: Shit man, this is my home! These are the streets my old man grinded on, you know? Not to mention reasonably easy access to soul records.

Rikshaw

Founding member and reggae expert from mid-'90s DJ collective Deadly Dragon Sound System
Style: Reggae Dancehall Foundation
Chicago residencies: Sonotheque every Sunday. rodan the last Friday of each month.
First gig ever: The original HotHouse on Milwaukee Avenue. I had two Gemini turntables, the cheapest Radio Shack mixer, my bass cabinet, a crate of new records I had picked up in London and a bunch of extremely open-minded friends.
Best gig ever: Every gig for me is a hill-and-gully ride. It doesn't matter where I am or how many heads are there. It's really an emotional thing. So really, anytime the chemistry is perfect, or when I blow some preconceptions.
Worst gig ever: When Deadly Dragon broke, we were juggling at this place where you had to climb this ladder way up into this crow's-nest DJ booth. Right before we started spinning, everyone passed a joint around. I was the only one not to take a "sip." I get this tap on my shoulder. One of the guys says, "Rich, I feel weird, man." He's drenched in sweat. We're way up in this crow's nest and my friend is tripping. I say, "Okay, just chill. I'll get someone else to spin while you pull yourself together." I climb down and look for this other cat. I see these legs sticking out of a beer cooler. There he is! He looks up and explains, "Man, I was hitting on this girl and went to hop up on the cooler, but it was open." You can see where my night was going.
Musical heroes: Vivian Jackson [Yabby You]. He got his name from the "thrum-thrum" of bass cabinets. The speakers were saying to him, "Yabby you, yabby you." Hence he was "dubbed" by speakers. I find [his music] to be some of the most spiritual roots. Grab Jesus Dread [Blood & Fire].
Vice/drink of choice: Music is my vice. That's where my bread goes. Music has been my problem and my solution.
Favorite song: I'm a DJ precisely because my ears can't settle down.
Best thing about Chicago: True human beings are here to be found.

ToneB Nimble

The turntable wizard of Chicago's conscious rap crew All Natural
Style: I play a lot of hip-hop, but I'll also play some soul, original breaks, some disco records. I'll even play house records.
Chicago residencies: I do two different monthly events at Sonotheque—Dance to the Drummer's DB and the Scion event.
First gig ever: It was probably a house party around '87 or '88, when I was going to Homewood-Flossmoor High School. Capital D [from All Natural] and myself used to deejay together. House parties were the start.
Best gig ever: I played at an outdoor party at Shelter [now-shuttered legendary nightclub] in '92 or '93. The vibe off the crowd was great. It was a very diverse group and they were there to party. Very seldom do I stick around at the party these days. But at that party I did. I stayed there all night and hung out.
Worst gig ever: When people ask for different genres than what I'm playing, especially at a popular club when there are a lot of tourists. When I'm playing Eric B. and Rakim and they ask for the Doors—it's like apples and oranges.
Musical heroes: Musically, I like James Brown. He's almost in a class by himself based on how much quality music he puts out.
Vice/drink of choice: I've been collecting sneakers for 15 years. I'm a consumer for sure. I have a couple hundred and keep the old ones in boxes. I like my Air Jordan 4s. There are people that have way more than that, but because I collect records, my collection of sneakers isn't where it could be.
Favorite song: I like "Saturdays" by De La Soul, "Liquid Swords" by the GZA, "Just Hangin' Out" by Main Source and "Water No Get Enemy" by Fela Kuti.
Best thing about Chicago: People might not know it, but it does have a great musical history. A lot of artists came from here. We have good lineage, so to speak.