DJ Spinn

DJ Spinn (born Morris Harper) is one of the most visible members of Chicago's frenetic juke/footwork scene, with releases on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+Mu%22">Planet Mu</a> and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperdub%22">Hyperdub</a> as well as a constant touring schedule. Along with fellow scene pioneers such as <a href="spotify:artist:4zGBj9dI63YIWmZkPl3o7V">DJ Rashad</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1V65K61WofX4cJDVLCocU8">DJ Gantman</a>, Spinn co-founded <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Teklife%22">Teklife</a>, 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 <a href="spotify:artist:4zGBj9dI63YIWmZkPl3o7V">DJ Rashad</a>. Both artists featured on a 1998 split 12" by DJ Chip and DJ Thadz on Chicago's legendary ghetto house label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dance+Mania+Records%22">Dance Mania Records</a>. 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 <a href="spotify:artist:4zGBj9dI63YIWmZkPl3o7V">Rashad</a> formed the Ghettoteknitianz collective in 2004, and their Girl Bust Down EP appeared on Detroit's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Juke+Trax%22">Juke Trax</a> label that year.

By the end of the decade, Spinn's tracks appeared on mixes by <a href="spotify:artist:0cKrM2XKF7wxyfEQDauvyQ">DJ Godfather</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:678aHai0twQ5ZJcqO1KYWl">RP Boo</a>. Spinn and <a href="spotify:artist:4zGBj9dI63YIWmZkPl3o7V">Rashad</a>'s split EP 4 the Ghetto appeared on Chicago label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ghettophiles%22">Ghettophiles</a> in 2010, and at the end of the year, the footwork scene was introduced to the world when <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+Mu%22">Planet Mu</a> 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 <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Planet+Mu%22">Planet Mu</a> also released Spinn's Man I Do It EP that same year.

Around this time, Ghettoteknitianz evolved into <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Teklife%22">Teklife</a> and expanded their impact globally, enlisting members from far outside the Chicago scene. The <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Teklife%22">Teklife</a> crew became affiliated with British label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperdub%22">Hyperdub</a> in 2013, and Spinn appeared on <a href="spotify:artist:4zGBj9dI63YIWmZkPl3o7V">DJ Rashad</a>'s releases for the label that year. Spinn released his first EP for the label, Off That Loud, in 2015, additionally co-producing <a href="spotify:artist:4b99uGDv75xD1n2QHuPRDN">Jessy Lanza</a>'s single "You Never Show Your Love" the same year. He remixed songs by <a href="spotify:artist:5CE2IfdYZEQGIDsfiRm8SI">DJ Shadow</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:1U0sIzpRtDkvu1hXXzxh60">Kelela</a> and collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:4T1sY4aibm24hxfz9JnI7c">DJ Taye</a> and Philip D Kick before releasing his second <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hyperdub%22">Hyperdub</a> EP, Da Life, in 2019. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi