A-Trak

Noted DJ and producer A-Trak spoke exclusively with VladTV on celebrity DJ’s and how dance music has helped inspire the next wave of DJ’s. A-Trak, who won over Kanye West with his impeccable scratching skills has a long history with the art since he was 15 years old. After winning major DJ competitions like the DMC and Vestax, the A-Trak went on to tour with Kanye West and continue his art through various groups like Duck Sauce and his latest project with Cam’ron. With the producer coming a long way in the game, he doesn’t have much to say about celebrity DJ’s like Paris Hilton, Solange Knowles and socialites who are paid generously to spin. “If there’s people that want to see or hear that, that’s her [Paris] hustle,” he said. “I think it’s important for the universe to balance out. As long as there’s guys on the other end that are keeping real DJ’ing alive, and fans can really choose what they want to see and hear [and] there’s an education process where people can tell the difference between the two then that’s all that matters to me.” Check out the interview above

What does the day in the life of a music mogul look like? We’re giving you a look at what A-Trak does to prepare for his journey as he takes us on a tour of his home and his Fool’s Gold headquarters in Brooklyn. Starting at just 18 years old, A-Trak was a Montreal vinyl-enthusiast who became Kanye West’s tour DJ through the aid of hardwork, dedication, and a little luck. Take a look at how A-Trak prepares for the journey ahead.

A-Trak opens up to VladTV about how he became Kanye’s DJ, and explains that they met while he was spinning at the same club in London that the Roc-A-Fella crew were partying. He says that after playing a Jay Z track Kanye approached him and they bonded over a Jay Z track that the Fools Gold CEO played. After joining Kanye on tour, A-Trak shares a story about how he changed the Chicago rapper’s smash hit “Gold Digger.” The famed DJ says that after hearing the first cut on the song, he thought there should be some scratching on the track. Unfortunately, Kanye’s budget was tapped out for the album, but after hearing A-Trak’s version live at a concert, he was able to get in on the recording.

DJ A-Trak sat down with VladTV and shared the story of how he and partner Nick Catchdubs started Fools Gold, saying he had another indie label called Audio Research that gave him the experience necessary to confidently run another. Around 2007 he noticed the landscape of DJing was beginning to change from DJ’s only playing certain genres to all DJs needing to play a variety of music. At this point he wanted to shift from his underground Hip-Hop background to something more universal. His first act on Fool’s Gold was Kid Sister, and her song “Pro Nails” did relatively well, especially after Kanye West jumped on the track. They proceeded to push Kid Cudi and The Cool Kids early in their careers as well, and the rest is history.