DJ Spinn blends hip-hop, footwork on 'Off That Loud'

Footwork is a style of dance music that evolved out of the Chicago house music scene in the 1980s. It’s similar to juke -- fast, beat-skipping drums recorded with generally lo-fi sound production -- except that it’s more complex in its syncopated, repetitive halftime rhythms and frequent use of vocal sampling. The music grew out of footwork dance, a high-speed style related to street dance. 

Long-time Chicago producer RP Boo is considered the founding father of footwork. Another frontrunner in the footwork genre, DJ Rashad, founded footwork music label Teklife Records to spread the style of music to a larger audience. DJ Rashad released arguably the most successful footwork album to date, “Double Cup” (2013),a year before he passed away from a drug overdose. Though Rashad’s talents are missed, other Teklife stalwarts like DJ Spinn continue his mission of bringing footwork to the forefront of the dance music world.

DJ Spinn’s latest project, an EP titled “Off That Loud” (2015), combines hip-hop and footwork to create a surprisingly successful sound. One of the drawbacks of the genre is the repetitiveness of the bass and halftime beats, which can sometimes get tiring to listen to. DJ Spinn's “Dubby,” also credited to DJ Rashad posthumously, shows off Spinn's talent the best; the music builds a sizzling backdrop for the rapper, Danny Brown, to skate across. “Throw It Back,” the opening track off the four-song EP, is a dizzying, sex-and-drugs themed anthem that sends listeners down a winding path that doesn’t end until the third track, “Off That Loud.”This title track sees DJ Spinn make repetitive use of a sample, the phrase “What you smokin’?,” bending and twisting it around a mind-numbing beat reminiscent of “Double Cup” tracks. It’s simple in its original construction, but it grows into a complex concoction of bass and glossy, dance-able beats. With “Off That Loud,” DJ Spinn has produced another positive contribution to Chicago’s storied history of house music.