INTERVIEW
DJSPINN
DJ Spinn (born Morris Harper) is one of the most visible members of Chicago's frenetic juke/footwork scene, with releases on Planet Mu and Hyperdub as well as a constant touring schedule. Along with fellow scene pioneers such as DJ Rashad and DJ Gantman, Spinn co-founded Teklife, a crew that expanded footwork's range throughout the globe. While his discography mainly consists of digital-only releases and mixtapes, he's issued a few key EPs on vinyl, including Man I Do It (2011) and Off That Loud (2015).
Spinn began DJing as a teenager in the '90s, playing house parties and roller rinks as well as producing house tracks with DJ Rashad. Both artists featured on a 1998 split 12" by DJ Chip and DJ Thadz on Chicago's legendary ghetto house label Dance Mania Records. Throughout the 2000s, Spinn continued to hone his craft, pumping out dozens of 160-bpm tracks with booming bass and twisted soul and hip-hop samples. Spinn and Rashad formed the Ghettoteknitianz collective in 2004, and their Girl Bust Down EP appeared on Detroit's Juke Trax label that year.
By the end of the decade, Spinn's tracks appeared on mixes by DJ Godfather and RP Boo. Spinn and Rashad's split EP 4 the Ghetto appeared on Chicago label Ghettophiles in 2010, and at the end of the year, the footwork scene was introduced to the world when Planet Mu issued the first Bangs & Works compilation, which featured Spinn's track "2020." Further Spinn tracks appeared on Bangs & Works, Vol. 2 and the Ghettoteknitianz EP in 2011, and Planet Mu also released Spinn's Man I Do It EP that same year.
Around this time, Ghettoteknitianz evolved into Teklife and expanded their impact globally, enlisting members from far outside the Chicago scene. The Teklife crew became affiliated with British label Hyperdub in 2013, and Spinn appeared on DJ Rashad's releases for the label that year. Spinn released his first EP for the label, Off That Loud, in 2015, additionally co-producing Jessy Lanza's single You Never Show Your Love the same year. He remixed songs by DJ Shadow and Kelela and collaborated with DJ Taye and Philip D Kick before releasing his second Hyperdub EP, Da Life, in 2019.DJ SPINN.
