DJ KWAKU
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- DJ KWAKU is Made In Detroit. His passion is to share music with everyone.DJ KWAKU began his life long quest for the perfect beat in Detroit Memorial Hospital. The first record he remembers listening to was Marvin Gaye's "What Goin On” album. Being in Detroit at that time was living that album. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Los Angeles in the pivotal year of 1972. Not only did Motown move to LA that year but so did Soul Train from Chicago. That is when Kwaku’s education formerly began through his Father and his Uncle. His uncle was a Music Business Insider which exposed Kwaku at a young age to Titans of Music and the Business. Think Barry White, Flip Wilson, Quincy Jones, Clarence Avant, The Jacksons, Hugh Hefner, Mick Fleetwood & Lindsey Buckingham, Berry Gordy, Gamble & Huff, Herb Albert and so many more others, who were his mentors all before the age of 10. Kwaku’s Dad was known for throwing and curating music for one of the most talked about yearly gatherings at Kwaku’s family home, which was a home away from home for musical friends in town from back east. This was the mid 70’s to the mid 80’s. Kwaku’s dad was using Reel to Reel, recording music to 8 track tapes and later on to cassettes. His Dad never wanted to be a dee jay. But he had built a reputation with all of the back east musical expats as the music he played reminded them of being back home. It's no wonder Kwaku’s passion for music has never wavered. Kwaku’s passion to Dee Jay began while visiting Detroit during Christmas break in 1980 when he first first touched two turntables and a mixer. He then spent the whole summer of 1981 in Detroit for the summer. His cousin was in a high school dee jay crew doing the rounds in the city. That summer was a turning point for music and Detroit was on the forefront. Things were changing. People were excited about this newer technology based music. "Shari Vari" came out that summer by a group from Detroit of the same name Shari Vari. "Alley Of Your Mind" came out that summer from another group from Detroit, Cybotron and Kraftwerk's Numbers came out that same summer from Germany.. That summer Kwaku experienced Northland Roller Rink on 8 Mile Rd, Boblo Boat Cruise to the Boblo Island amusement park, St Andrews Teen Club Nights in Downtown Detroit, Family Re-Union Picnics on Belle Isle and so many teenage basement parties which seemed like every other day. It was exactly how his parents, uncles and aunts had explained growing up in Detroit to him. It was the energy and talent of Motown with a futuristic twist. Kwaku would never listen to or hear things the same way again. He saw and heard the future that summer. Humans creating soul with these machines. It wasn't a car. It wasn't a engine. It was soul music with a mechanical precision never before heard. For Kwaku it was galaxies away from the music he'd grown up with. And yet it was still connected. Upon his return to Los Angeles Kwaku embarked on his quest for all things related to deejaying. Through his aunt, he was mentored by her close friend living in Los Angeles at the time from Chicago. His name was Ronnie. His aunt would take him to Ronnie's Wednesday night dj gig where he was allowed into the club as long as he was in the dj booth with Ronnie. The young Kwaku was 14 years old. This is when he learned the etiquette of the dj booth. How you set up your records in the booth. Ronnie would have Kwaku give him the records in the order he set them up in the dj box, and he would put them back into the record sleeves. Ronnie would set up 5 records at a given time giving him options depending on the vibe of the dance floor. Sadly, Ronnie moved back to Chicago. Kwaku remembered him saying his family needed him to move back. This was now 1982. Ronnie would always tell the young Kwaku, "You know I'm your uncle". That's how close Ronnie was to Kwaku's family. His aunt met Ronnie through the same uncle which was her older sisters husband in the music business. Ronnie was also a favorite Dee Jay that the Soul Train dancers would follow wherever he was playing in LA. There was a close Chicago (Soul Train) and Detroit (Motown) connection in Los Anegels at that time. It was 20 years later that Kwaku found out and realized that Uncle Ronnie was Ron Hardy. THE Ron Hardy who was one of 2 founders of the House Music movement after moving back to Chicago from Los Angeles in 1982. The Chicago scene was also connected to the same Detroit scene that Kwaku had experienced in 1981. After Ronnie’s departure the city starting getting into the same thing that was going on back east. The DJ culture started exploding in LA with teen nights popping up everywhere. Roller skating rinks were now throwing dance teen parties to survive. There was this excitement in the city of LA. The Olympics was coming. The Lakers were winning NBA Championships. Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna were the biggest artists in the world living in Los Angeles and always spotted around town. At this time there was this dj crew of all LA dj crews. Uncle Jamm's Army. They were the biggest dj crew in the 80's period. They were so big that they were renting out the LA Coliseum for teen dj parties. That was the arena that the NBA’s LA Clippers played in. 15 thousand plus teenage parties in the early mid 80’s. That's when Kwaku and his friends, who were transplants from Chicago, New York and Detroit started their first dj crew. They planned to throw one party at each of the their parents house to raise funds to build a sound system that could compete with all the other crews in the city. It took them 3 parties to do it. The year was 1984. Since that time Kwaku has been a resident DJ in Los Angeles New York Baltimore and Atlanta. Throughout the years he has played in Italy, England, Germany, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico. His vision is clear. A never ending quest for the perfect beat. For Kwaku It's not about the scene, networking or the business. It's about Passion. It's about Life. It’s about Family. It’s about the Music! HOUSE MUSIC DEFINED “OUR HOUSE IS YOUR HOME”̸https://www.beatport.com/track/house-music-defined/1465184 https://www.beatport.com/release/fff/2288381 https://www.beatport.com/release/dwayne/2794622 https://www.beatport.com/release/breaks-series-vol-7/4069017
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