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DJs Julius Jetson and SANiTY talk Ghetto House and risks of being an artist

DC-native Julius Jetson and New York local DJ SANiTY sat down with NO BS at Nancy Pantirer Studio in NYC to talk about the growing Ghetto House movement, the risks of going into the music business, and the importance of authenticity.

DJ-turned-producer, Julius Jetson, has focused his attention on creating tracks that blend hip-hop and Ghetto House together. His influences in hip-hop stem from his childhood, in which Atlanta rappers such as Lil Jon, Ying Yang Twins, Gucci Mane, Boyz N The Hood, and Lil Scrappy dominated the scene. Years later, Jetson draws on these hip-hop influence, mixing them with Ghetto House to create a truly unique sound and cementing his name in the g-house community.

“I’ve always listened to hip hop since I was like eight years old…It wasn’t until I found house music in 2008 that I began diving into it and when I started producing music I was actually producing techno. It wasn’t until I heard Shiba San’s first EP that I was like, ‘Holy shit, this is what I want to do.’”

After initially releasing tracks on prominent blogs such as EDM Insider, EDMTunes, and Complex’s Do Androids Dance, Queens native Demitri Kesoglides, a.k.a. SANiTY is experimenting to find his ‘sound,’ which can be described as a cross between progressive, electro, hip-hop, groovy, and g-house styles along with open-format mixing techniques.

Currently, the 28-year-old is trailblazing the ‘G-House’ movement and has made his debut release with G-Mafia Records in 2017 and is currently working with local NYC producers and rappers to curate an “East Coast G-House” movement, which focuses on mixing gritty East Coast hip-hop lyricism, party trap breakdowns, and thumping house grooves.

The first volume of the #EastCoastGHouse compilation has received support from EARMILK, HipHopHeadQuarters, and even a personal shoutout from the West Coast G-House icon Destructo.

“The thing that got me into G-House was that it would sample old-school hip hop…I’m trying to curate something where there’s a bunch of artists involved. Literally, hip-hop bars over house beats, but not ‘Put your hands up. Where the girls at?’ It’s actually these guys are coming correct with their lyrical energy and flow.”

Reid Speed and DJ DALI Speed talk women in EDM, taking drum and bass mainstream

NO BS sat down at Eden Fine Art Gallery with New York native DJ DALI and Drum and Bass DJ and bass music pioneer Reid Speed to talk about the women in music, the “Girls & Boys” party at Webster Hall and more.

DJ DALI, known for his presence in the underground culture and his weekly shows at Webster Hall for the Girls & Boys event. During his portion of the interview, DALI opened up about his thoughts on the expansion of EDM in the mainstream and shared some sage advice for any starting out DJs. He also filled us in on his experiences with fellow DJ colleagues he booked.

“We had Skrillex’s first show in New York City ever. He also played our last show ever. I knew he was going to get so big from the day I met him. That guy is a musical genius. The first conversation I’ve had with him was a two-hour conversation about drum and bass, which he was not making at the time.”

Reid Speed is a one of the most highly skilled drum and bass DJ’s and recognized as a trailblazer of the multi-genre bass music movement and spoke about her experiences of being one of the few female musicians in her genre and how the male-dominated scene has evolved over the span of her decades-long career.

She helped kick-start the careers of the likes of Dillon Francis, Must Die, Figure, Bare, Singularity, Cyberoptics, and many more.

“When I started I felt that being a woman was super helpful because there weren’t any, so the fact of being the only one at first, I was like the token female DJ. Then the fact of being really good–that was cool. Then I got a bunch of residencies and if I was a guy I don’t think I would have been afforded those opportunities just from being good.”

The DJs wrapped up the interview talking about drum and bass’s place in the world of electronic music, especially during the rise of EDM’s popularity on mainstream radio.