10 Famous DJs From New York Who Will Blow Your Mind

DJ Kool Herc is the stage name of Clive Campbell. The DJ is known for playing a pivotal part in the birth of Hip-Hop.

Herc was born on April 16, 1955, in Kingston, Jamaica but moved to the Bronx in New York with his family when he was 12 years old. Despite moving away at an early age, the sounds of Jamaican Dancehall would play an important part in his development of Hip-Hop.

The DJ got his name when he was studying at the Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School where would frequently play basketball. Due to his height and frame, but most importantly, his demeanor, his friends and other peers started calling him Hercules, after the Greco-Roman mythological figure, and soon, the DJ started going by Kool Herc.

Herc helped found Hip Hop on August 11, 1973, when his younger sister, Cindy, wanted to throw a Back to School Jam in order to earn some extra cash for school clothes. Cindy asked the DJ to play music while she promoted and organized the event and also created the fashion that she wanted her and her brother to wear.

At the jam, Herc started playing hard funk record on his two-turnable set-up, but instead of just playing the music, he started isolating the instrumental and emphasizing the drum beat, a technique which would go on to be called the break. By switching from one break to another, Herc created the breakbeat which would become the cornerstone on which the entire genre of Hip-Hop would be born, and other DJs after him would expand on what Herc did.

Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx area of New York. Bambaataa was born on April 17, 1957.

Born Lance Taylor, Bambaataa is the child of Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants. The DJ’s mother and uncle were both activists, and young Lance was exposed to the black liberation movement which became seminal in his understanding of his culture and his place in it.

Growing up, Bambaataa became active in a gang called the Black Spades, eventually becoming one of the leaders, and even crossed turfs to build relationships with other gangs, making the Spades one of the biggest gangs in the area. However, his entire outlook would shift again after winning an essay contest that took him to Africa, where he learned about African communities and their practices.

Upon return, Lance Taylor became Afrika Bambaataa Aasim and started to see himself in the same light as a Zulu leader. Dissatisfied by being just a gang leader, and wanting to move his community forward, Bambaataa started building on the breakbeat technique that Kool Herc did and released a series of electro tracks in the early 80s that would further influence the genre.

Alongside DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash, Bambaataa is seen as three of the fathers of Hip Hop. Not only did Bambaataa further the art of Deejaying, but he helped spread Hip Hop throughout the world through his music, and also by touring as Bambaataa and his followers which include dancers, other DJs, and artists, were the first hip-hop group to tour outside the US. 

Grandmaster Flash is the stage name of American DJ Joseph Saddler. Flash was born on January 1, 1958, in The Bronx, New York.

Flash is best known for being the titular Grandmaster in Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, alongside Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Scorpio, and Rahiem. The group is known for being one of the pioneers of the genre, and the Grandmaster’s turntable skills are central to the group’s legacy.

Like Bambaataa, Flash is also the child of immigrants, as his parents immigrated to America from Barbados, and his parents’ love for Caribbean and African American music largely colored his early childhood. The DJ has since stated that his father had an extensive record collection that would further spark his musical aspirations, alongside attending the aforementioned parties thrown by DJ Kool Herc.

Inspired by Herc, Flash would start collaborating with various rappers like Lovebug Starski and Kurtis Blow but would go on to form his own group in the late 70s. The group would go on to see a lot of success throughout the 80s with songs like The Message showcasing their conscious lyrics alongside the Grandmaster’s eclectic and powerful DJing.

As a DJ, the Grandmaster is known for being the pioneer of various DJ techniques that were unheard of before his time. From looping and mixing, the DJ created three techniques that are still remembered today:

• Backspin Technique: Here, Flash perfected the breakbeat developed by Herc and Bambaataa by developing a way to loop tracks indefinitely until he could find the second break
• Punch phrasing: Here, Flash would isolate small fragments of music and punch them over a beat through a mixer
• Scratching: A significant part of early Hip-Hop, scratching is when the DJ physically moves the record.

DJ Premier is the stage name of popular DJ and producer Christopher Edward Martin. Born in Houston, Texas, Premier moved to New York at a young age.

The DJ is one of the most important figures in 90s Hip Hop both for his contributions to the discography of some of the biggest rappers of that day till today, and for being part of the noted rap duo, Gang Starr.

Premier formed Gang Starr with the late rapper Guru in 1986, and the two were active until 2003. As Gang Starr, Guru, and Premier released six albums and a posthumous cut (for Guru) in 2019. 

Of the six albums, four (1991’s Step in the Arena, 1992’s Daily Operation, 1994’s Hard to Earn, and 1998’s Moment of Truth) are seen as some of the most important and beloved records in all of 90s Hip Hop. Many people equate Gang Starr with the same reputation and importance given to some of the biggest groups of that day like OutKast, UGK, Wu-Tang Clan, and the NWA.

Despite the group disbanding after Premier and Guru fell out, Premier has continued to produce and DJ for countless big-name artists, like NAS, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Eminem, and Christina Aguilera to name a few. The DJ is best known for his jazz, soul, and funk samples, a style collectively known as boom bap, and for sampling a rapper’s previous work, as he has an ingenious way of flipping the sample to make a new song.

Moby is the stage name of popular DJ and producer Richard Melville Hall. Moby was born on September 11, 1965, in Harlem, New York.

The DJ and producer is one of the most popular and important figures in popular electronic and dance music in the past three decades. In fact, Moby has been credited for bringing dance music to mainstream audiences in the US and UK, and for this, the producer has sold over 20 million records worldwide as of the writing of this article.

A musical child prodigy, Moby started playing the guitar and the piano when he was only nine years old and started playing in bands during his teens. However, his interest would evolve from punk and hardcore to electronic music throughout the 1980s, and he started DJing, producing, and remixing in 1989.

Moby first sound success in Europe, where electronic dance music was already a big genre, with his 1991 single, “Go,” which became a big, mainstream hit. Not only did the song chart in various countries, but the success of the song and his subsequent music seeped into the US, and the DJ has 8 top 10 dance hits throughout the decade. 

The DJ’s biggest mainstream success would come in the form of his fifth album, Play, which was released in 1999, and remains his biggest critical and commercial success after each of the tracks was licensed to film and TV. The licensing produced a ripple effect, and Moby’s music, especially from Play, can still be heard to this day, and even people who don’t like dance music still know who Moby is, or at least what he looks like.  

Swizz Beatz is the stage name of the famous producer and DJ Kasseem Daoud Dean. Swiz was born on September 13, 1978, in the Bronx, New York. 

The DJ is best known for his collaborations with various prominent artists like DMX and Lil Wayne. Swizz’s electronic-influenced production puts him right alongside producers like Timbaland and Pharell.

Swizz was born in the North East side of the Bronx and immediately started ingratiating himself in the Hip-Hop culture and music of the place. After deciding he wanted to DJ, he got the necessary equipment from his stepfather and uncles and started to run the turntables while still a teenager, and even saw some success locally.

From an early age, the DJ decided not to sample and instead played on the keyboards so he could come up with his own hooks and beats, focusing more on the performance aspect of his music. Through his uncles and aunt, who were all involved in the record label, Ruff Ryders, Swizz started producing at the young age of 16, and would eventually make the beat for DMX’s chart-topping single, “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.”

Swizz then embarked on a fruitful collaboration streak with DMX which would lead to more hits and started collaborating with many prominent 2000s artists like Jay-Z and Eve. Since then, he has continued to be one of the hottest producers and DJs in the game and has recently been on a hot collaboration streak with the prominent rapper, Lil Wayne, with whom he has been working for over two decades. 

Dot da Genius is the stage name of DJ and producer Oladip Omishore. Dot was born on July 17 in Brooklyn New York. 

The DJ is of Yoruba heritage as his ancestor hail from Nigeria. Showing interest in music from a young age, Dot’s parents always encouraged his vocation and sent him to the Brooklyn Music School, where he learned how to play the piano. 

Though he preferred the guitar, his piano playing would be most beneficial when he started producing and DJing later on. Dot would start his career in 2003 by sound-mixing using FL Studio while still in college, and in the following year, would make a studio for himself in his basement which he would call “Head Banga Muzik Studios.”

However, his life would change in 2006 when he would meet his friend and long-time collaborator, Kid Cudi, with whom he not only instantly meshed well, but even lived together for two years. The two started creating music together which eventually resulted in their breakout hit, Day N’ Nite, which catapulted Cudi, especially to the top of mainstream recognition.

Spurred on by Cudi, Dot would start experimenting more, as both of them were into a variety of genres of music outside of rap, and even started collaborating on an equal footing when they joined up and created an alternative rock band together called WZRD.

Though the band was not a commercial success, there is a large group of people online who think of the band and its music as not only underrated but a seminal work in both Dot and Cudi’s discography.

Eric B is the stage name of the famous producer and DJ Louis Eric Barrier. Eric was born on November 8, 1963, in Queens, New York. 

The DJ is best known for being one-half of the famous and important Hip-Hop duo, Eric B & Rakim. Alongside the God MC, Eric B is one of the seminal figures in hip-hop and on the same list as Bambaataa, Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash in terms of pioneer DJs.

Eric was born in the East Elmhurst neighborhood in the North-Western section of Queens and went to William Cullen Bryant High School under a scholarship. The DJ’s scholarship was for basketball, and not only was he good at it but had even considered becoming a professional basketball player until music became more of a priority for him in his life.

In 1985, while working as a DJ at WBLS, a popular New York Station, Eric B met two rappers, Rakim, and Freddie Foxxx, while trying to find a rapper to rap over his beats. Eric eventually chose Rakim and the two quickly got to work and released their first single, Eric B Is President, the next year in 1986 to much acclaim.

The duo released their debut album, “Paid in Full,” another year after that in 1987, and it became a huge success, especially critically, and is still regarded as one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums in history. The two released three more albums in 1988, 1990, and 1992, respectively, and eventually split due to Eric’s anxiety over Rakim abandoning him caused him to become difficult.

DJ Spinderella is the pseudonym of popular DJ and rapper Deidra Muriel Roper. Spinderella was born on August 3, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York.

Also known as DJ Spin or Spiny, Spinderella is best known for being one of the members of the popular hip-hop group, Sal-n-Pepa. Alongside Cheryl James, who was Salt, and Sandra Denton, who was Pepa, the group was the first female group to achieve both gold and platinum certifications.

Spinderella grew up as one of five children in a very musical childhood as her father, like many others on this list, had an extensive record collection by which the DJ was enamored by. Eventually, the DJ started dating a local DJ in her sophomore year of high school and learned various DJing techniques from him.

Word spread around that Spinderella knew how to DJ, and she was approached by a classmate who asked her if she wanted to join an all-female group as the classmate knew Hurby “LuvBug” Azor, a producer. Through Azor, Spin met Salt-N-Pepa, who had been looking for a new DJ as their previous one, Latoya Hanson, had missed various rehearsals and group appearances. 

Spinderella has gone on to release five albums with the group from 1986 to 1997, with each of the releases being mega hits and three of them being certified platinum. When the band broke up in 2002, she went on to work with various other artists, most prominently Big Daddy Kane, and is responsible for his song, Very Special, which is famous for being Big Daddy’s only top 40 hit on the Hot 100.

Q-Tip is the stage name of legendary rapper and DJ Kamaal Ibn John Fareed. Q was born on April 10, 1970, in Harlem, New York City.

Best known as the frontman of the seminal hip-hop group, A Tribe Called Quest, Q is one of the biggest and most respected names in alternative hip-hop. Alongside DJ Premier, Q pioneered a style of production that heavily sampled jazz and has since been called Boom Bap.

Born Johnathan William Davis, Q’s father is from Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean, though he was raised in Cleveland, and his mother is from Alabama. The Dj would meet his friend and future bandmate Phife Dawg when the two were both two years old at church in St. Albans, Queens, and would remain friends until Phife’s tragic passing in 2016.

Q gained his nickname from his friend and fellow Hip-Hop artist Afrika Baby Bam and became popular because of it in high school. When he eventually wanted to form a rap group, he decided to use the name as his stage name, and it has since become his most popular moniker.

As part of A Tribe Called Quest, Q and his bandmates Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White, have released six albums. Five of them were released from 1990 to 1998 to a lot of critical and commercial acclaim, and their last album, released in 2016, has gained a reputation for not only being a great album but the perfect swan song to finish their career.