Music has always been Chase B’s superpower, and he continues to fuel his passion through his work as a disc jockey.
A longtime DJ and creative collaborator for Travis Scott as a core member of Cactus Jack, Chase has had his hand in shaping the sound and energy of some of today’s most influential hip-hop moments.
No stranger to curating vibes that feel authentic to himself and the crowd he serves, Chase has partnered with Crown Royal Marquis to infuse his love for the culture and get the crowd rocking at a night scene for the brand’s national launch.
“I feel like my responsibility at this point, even just as a DJ in general, whether it’s Cactus Jack or any nightclub or an event or whatever, it’s kind of like to create these safe spaces for artists and creatives just in general,” Chase told Blavity in a recent interview. “They really start with just kind of like having an unspoken understanding between yourself and whoever seems to be in the building,” adding that the biggest thing he’s learned is preparation, understanding this music and what creates people’s ability to feel safe in these different spaces.
On challenging the average music enthusiast
Beyond just partying, Chase aims to create an experience through his DJ performances, which, at this point in his career, go beyond just pleasing the entire room.
“Education, honestly, to me at this point, is more important,” Chase said. “I’d rather challenge the listener and the partygoer or whoever to accept a certain style of music, song or artists, just to get that education off. But at the same time, you obviously want to make the crowd happy and please as many people as you can,” he stated.
“I kind of just lock into a certain table or section; is someone on the dance floor that seems to be the catalyst or the leader of the night?” he continued. “I feel like it’s an aura thing that somebody might have. And then, usually, it takes me maybe like 10 to 15 minutes to kind of figure out what angle you’re gonna go with. I remember at the Crown Royal Marquis event in New York, I kind of started with an electronic kind of uptempo dance set, which was cool.”
Chase mentioned he played Dominican music, and, “It just went into flames, like the whole thing just went crazy. So, I was like, ‘Alright, this is obviously where we need to end up for tonight.’”
The reason he believed DJing could become a career
For Chase, who once MC’d while at Howard University, his Holy Grail when it comes to DJs who represent what he aims to be for the culture, it’s all about the way they’ve branded themselves as architects of music.
“Growing up, it was definitely DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Clark Kent and DJ AM as the big three as far as branding and actually good DJing,” he recalled. “That’s all you knew them for,” mentioning, “Their followings came from actual knowledge of music and good DJing. There were timeless brands as well, and they were kind of the same way.”
He added, “You didn’t really just seem them spacing themselves out when it came to aligning themselves with a whole bunch of different brands and just doing things for money, and all that type of stuff. They were very true to themselves and just kept it going throughout their whole lives. Jeff is still doing it, and rest in peace to AM and Clark.”
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