The name wHODAt came from the crowd.........When he would play,
they'd ask, "Yo, who is that?" Born and raised in Chicago, wHODAt
was influenced by the pioneers of hip hop, from all five elements. Graffiti
artists, emcees, dj's, b boys, and beat boxers. It was in these elements
where he viewed house music. As a revolutionary expression. Many
ask, "How can u be both hip hop and house?" To which the response
is, " Hip hop is my heart, and house is my soul. I can't have one without
the other." It was this devotion and mentality, with everything instilled
from those who came before him, that has made Dj wHODAt, a
Chicago legend.
Since the age of 9, any money earned or allowed was used in the
purchase of old school Chicago House records at leisure, with a future
dream in mind. He taught himself how to mix at the age of 15, on belt
drive turntables with no pitch control. For 1 year until proper gear was
purchased, records were sorted by bpm and blended by wHODAt
speeding up the next cut using his fingers. When the gear came, his
skills escalated to a rate that had to be shared with others.
In 1993, Dj wHODAt emerged on the Chicago party seen through
long time friend and co-Dj Justin Long. These parties were dominated
by the house sound, so wHODAt established himself as a hip hop dj,
blending and scratching much like his counterparts, except with hip
hop. By the end of the year, he found himself as a 17 year old boy,
mixing parties Friday and Saturday nights, open mic battles, Medusa’s
all age closing night at the Congress Theatre, and even on stage before
the Wu Tang Clans first appearance to promote their 36 Chambers
album at the A.C. Club.
In 1994, as the rave scene exploded, Justin Long was off to a
superstar house career. Dj wHODAt remained a dominant hip hop force
on the north side of the city, linking up with the likes of another young
house superstar, Pump Boy Lee. It was from this moment, until the
death of dj/party crews in 1998 that these two young men would
dominate any appearance, on any weekend night, with the illest house
and hip hop sets.
As hip hop became more and more mainstream (wack), other dj’s
were spinning there fair share of hip pop, which brought wHODAt’s
house side out to the public. Brandishing and infusing a wild style,
wHODAt found himself at many Chicago night clubs doing guest
appearances. Dj wHODAt became the back room resident, in 1999, at
the infamous Club XL. When things there got a little crazy, he left in
2000, maintaining club and bar appearences, even through a 7 year
residence ending in 2008 at one of the hottest Lincoln Park bars in
Chicago, Bordo’s.
Through the years, the reliability in the groove of wHODAt’s style has
made him a Chicago Legend, respected, and willing to prove that his
place, as such, is properly deserved.
Dj Whodat’s tracks
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