Article by Jake Filderman and Christian Pandtle
On Saturday night UHall hosted the dance-floor dominating, crowd-controlling, mix master DJ Craze. Not only is Craze five-time DMC World Champion, but he’s also one of the big bosses (along with Kill the Noise) of Slow Roast Records. Craze’s prestigious foundation was definitely present on Saturday night. He came Craze, stayed Craze, and left Craze.
The night opened with local act Jahsonic, who began the night with a combination of accessible energy and quick-driving grooves. Even at 11:30 p.m., the (still) inescapable synth line of “Ni**as in Paris” was rocking the dance floor. Perhaps it was just the song, but shockingly, the dance floor was going. A free show on a D.C. Saturday night in summer definitely brings out the party people. Jahsonic’s early set consisted of some more popular tracks, such as more Jay-Z in the form of “Tom Ford,” before taking an interesting turn into some quick, juke and footwork style tracks with plenty of quick-kick drums, chord stabs and female vocals. He then transitioned into Jersey/Philly club beats which the crowd continued to love including a notable drop of Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor,” which continues to be a dance floor killer and set the stage for Craze’s later set. He provided good early energy and kept the crowd going, and at one point co-owner and DJ Ken Lazee came up and pointed out the fact that he was redlining his software (Serato paired with the in-house CDJ’s) which was causing a rumble in the low end through UHall’s normally prime sound system. To Jahsonic’s credit, this was uninhibited in his task of preparing the dance floor for the man from Miami.
Craze took over the decks around 12:30 a.m., starting hot with an ID remix of Skrillex’s Recess. The mid-tempo groove killed, and pulled the crowd to the front, closer to the stage, leaving plenty of room for people to dance out in the back. Craze fed off of his fans’ reaction with a bevy of live-scratched remixes, including mixing Ludacris'”Move Bitch” an acapella over Killagraham’s “Ice Cream VIP,” into a fantastic Sage the Gemini’s “Gas Pedal” remix. Craze’s ability to read the crowd and his timing were on point all night as he maneuvered through different BPMs and beat structures– staying mostly centered around trap beats. The influence of his Miami hometown could not be denied as he kept a consistent bounce through songs like “JWLS is Bored VIII (Gold)” and the Valentino Khan and Bro Safari remix of “YALA” by M.I.A. He was also eager to showcase his best-in-class scratching skills, often working a vocal chop into the mix and even bursting out into multiple extended juggling routines including behind-the-back scratching as featured in this showcase video he did for Native Instruments, to which the the crowd responded appropriately for a true world-class turntablist.
All night Craze displayed a love for tropically influenced beats, notably the productions of Mad Decent head Diplo from his recent 1 million followers EP with collaborators Badman, Ape Drums, and Pull Up Dat Booty. Major Lazer was heard at all stages of the night and the crowd was responding enthusiastically, especially to an ID remix of “Come On To Me” featuring Sean Paul. Craze also was fond of the harder edged sound of Flosstradamus who was also a consistent presence in the form of “Stoner,” “Crowd Control,” and a huge mix of the instrumental version of “Mosh Pit” that really worked the sub system that makes Uhall such an energetic experience. Craze created an atmosphere that started out hype and continued to be hype until the moment he left the decks at nearly 2:15 a.m. Mixing with tight, adept timing between today’s harder electronic trap beats like Eprom’s remix of Kendrick Lamar’s “M.A.A.D. City” and older club hip hop hits like DMX’s “Party Up,” Craze was really able to make the best of the medium-sized but receptive crowd. He was eager to give back the energy he received from the crowd through the mic and his mix– it was clear he was having fun and enjoying his visit to D.C.
Even UHall’s Don Tittsworth showed up on stage late in the evening to join in. The end of his set was packed with crazy technical displays, eventually ending with a raucous DnB track. After hearing slower trap beats all night a few minutes of fast heavy hitting DnB was a great way to cap off the night — with a final goodbye from Craze proclaiming, “You can find me at the bar!”
Check out Craze’s latest mix:
https://soundcloud.com/crazearoni1/craze-lion-v-2