Five Artists That Inspire DJ Rashad

While DJ Rashad's footwork sound is new to many ears in the dance music scene, know that the evolution of the juke scene has touched many corners of t

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Complex Original

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While DJ Rashad's footwork sound is new to many ears in the dance music scene, know that the evolution of the juke scene has touched many corners of the dance music scene. Producers like Machinedrum and Addison Groove have found inspiration in those styles, but interestingly enough, DJ Rashad finds inspiration in their music. When we recently spoke with Rashad, we asked him about artists people should check out to get an idea of what both inspires him and would give people a rough idea of where his head's at when he's crafting music. These are the artists he told us about; find out who DJ Rashad draws influence from.

Machinedrum

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The Berlin by way of North Carolina producer known as Machinedrum has been known as an experimentalist who has no problem mixing the beauty of atmospherics alongside with beats that range everywhere from hip-hop to jungle and juke/footwork. He's released tracks on LuckyMe, Innovative Leisure, Planet Mu, and Ninja Tune, with who he signed with in 2013 and released an album, Vapor City. The juke/jungle styles of 2013 have been ushered to the forefront in part by the output that Machinedrum has done.

Addison Groove

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Addison Groove was previously known as Headhunter to dubstep heads, but like many of his dubstep peers, Addison started experimenting with electronic music outside of the 140BPM region, and his work in the 808 and acid zones caught on fast. He's not bound to genre, has released music on Hessle Audio, Swamp 81, Tectonic, 50Weapons, and 3024, and has been known to build up an odd array of instruments to bring forth his unique sound.

Africa HiTech

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Africa HiTech is made up of Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek. While they don't have a huge catalog of tunes together, their output was unique enough to get catch the ears of Warp, who made sure to sign them and released their 2011 LP, 93 Million Miles. Their love for everything from Detroit techno to dancehall music was expressed in seminal singles like "Out In The Streets," and the crew's material has helped many discover what it takes to truly be yourself and progressive.

NGUZUNGUZU

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The LA duo has captivated the heads behind Fade to Mind, Innovative Leisure, and other imprints with their wide array of styles, ranging from bass music to kuduro. Known for their expansive live mixes, we can see how Rashad might be drawn to their open-ended take on music, be it electronic or otherwise.

Massacooramaan

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Massacooramaan's a name that many might not be up on, but the Fade to Mind/Ghettoteknicianz artist blends experimental beats in a footwork framework that many haven't even begun to understand. One lone release on Fade to Mind exists from Massacooramaan, but hopefully we'll get more material in the near future.

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