A-Trak
From MedBib.com - Medicine & Nature
| A-Trak | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alain Macklovitch |
| Born | March 30, 1982 |
| Origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Electro house, Hip hop |
| Years active | 1997-present, |
| Labels | Fool's Gold Thrive Audio Research |
| Associated acts | Kanye West, Boys Noize, Kid Cudi, Armand Van Helden, Chromeo, DJ Craze, Kid Sister |
| Website | Official website |
A-Trak (born Alain Macklovitch on March 30, 1982) is a Montreal-born DJ and turntablist.
Contents |
Career
Montreal-born, New York-based A-Trak was the first DJ to win all three major DJ competition titles (DMC, ITF and Vestax), as well as being the first DJ to win five World Championships.[1] He won the DMCs World DJ Championship in 1997 at the age of 15, making him the youngest and first Canadian winner of the competition.[2] He was an honorary member of the prestigious, now defunct DJ crew Invisibl Skratch Piklz, [3] and a member of The Allies alongside frequent collaborator DJ Craze.[4]
Macklovitch is the younger brother of David Macklovitch of the band Chromeo, with whom he ran the record label Audio Research from 1997-2007.[5] He, along with Nick Catchdubs then founded the Fool's Gold record label in 2007.[6]
In the late 90's A-Trak developed a notation system for scratching.[7] He gave a lecture about it at the Skratchcon 2000 conference and published an article in Tablist Magazine.[8] He has also appeared on the cover of multiple magazines including URB (twice), BPM and Status.[9]
In 2004 Kanye West recruited him as his personal tour DJ,[10] and he has worked closely with him ever since, including performances alongside the US rapper at MTV specials, the Grammy Award’s, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and worldwide stadium shows. A-Trak also recorded scratches on Kanye West’s second and third studio albums Late Registration in 2005 and Graduation in 2007, and was an influence on the overall sound of the latter.[11]
Over the years he has been endorsed by several brands including Serato Scratch Live,[12] Rane DJ equipment,[3] as well as clothing companies; Zoo York,[13] Lifted Research Group and Circa. A-Trak also has a collaborative clothing line called “Sunglasses is a Must,”[14] and released his own toy "Grateful Bear" with Kid Robot in 2009.
He is known for merging the sounds of rap and electronic music through his remix work, his 2007 CD "Dirty South Dance,"[15] his production for Kid Sister and Lupe Fiasco, and his remixes for electronic artists including MSTRKRFT and Boys Noize.[16] The hit single by Kid Cudi, Day 'n' Night, was released on an EP by A-Trak's label Fool's Gold.
Later in 2009, A-Trak worked with Armand Van Helden to create "aNYway" which was released in October under the stage name Duck Sauce.
In February 2010, it was announced that A-Trak will work with Travis Barker doing club shows that Travis Barker once use to do with the late DJ AM. The first shows will take place March 9th and 10th at The Roxy in West Hollywood. The march 9th show will be invite only.[17]
Awards
- 1997 Technics / DMC World Champion (15 years old - youngest ever)[18]
- 1998 Technics/ DMC World 2nd Runner Up[19]
- 1999 ITF World Champion (Advancement category)[19]
- 1999 ITF Western Hemisphere Scratching Champion[19]
- 1999 Vestax World DJ Extravaganza Champion[19]
- 2000 ITF World Champion (Advancement category)[19]
- 2000 DMC Team Champion (with DJ Craze)[19]
Discography
- Gangsta Breaks (12")
- Buck Tooth Wizards (CD)
- Enter Ralph Wiggum (7")
- Monkey Boy Breaks (12")
- Don't Fool With The Dips (12")
- Oh No You Didn't! Live From Vancouver (CD)
- Drive Slow Mixtape w/ GLC (CD)
- Sunglasses Is A Must (DVD)
- Dirty South Dance (CD), Obey's 4th mixtape, limited to 5000 copies.
- Running Man: Nike+ Original Run (Exclusive to ITunes)
- FabricLive.45 (April 2009) (CD)
- Infinity+1 (2009) (CD)
- Dirty South Dance 2 (2010)
See also
References
- ^ "A-Trak Biography & Awards". Billboard. Nielsen Company. http://www.billboard.com/artist/a-trak/363516#/artist/a-trak/bio/363516. Retrieved 1 Oct 2009.
- ^ "1997 World DJ Champion - A-Trak (Canada)". Disco Mix Club. http://www.dmcdjchamps.com/worldchamps.asp. Retrieved 1 Oct 2009.
- ^ a b "A-Trak". Rane Corp.. http://www.rane.com/dj/atrak.html. Retrieved 1 Oct 2009.
- ^ "4idols.com DJ A-Trak Bio, Photo Gallery, and Videos". 4idols.com. MadCool Network LLC. http://www.4idols.com/d/dj-a-trak.htm. Retrieved 1 Oct 2009.
- ^ Audio Research Records
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ [6]
- ^ [7]
- ^ [8]
- ^ [9]
- ^ [10]
- ^ [11]
- ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1632005/20100216/barker__travis.jhtml
- ^ DMC World DJ Champions
- ^ a b c d e f [12]
External links
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