DJ Nate Da Trak Genious

• DJ Nate – back up kid
• DJ Nate – u ain't workin wit nuthin
• DJ Nate – footwork homicide
• DJ Nate – hatas our motivation
• DJ Nate – call me when you're sober
• DJ Nate – below zero
• DJ Nate – a+ mayhem
• DJ Nate – he ain't bout it

• 1. back up kid
• 2. u ain't workin wit nuthin
• 3. footwork homicide
• 4. turn back time
• 5. hatas our motivation
• 6. call me when you're sober
• 7. my heart
• 8. you're gonna luv me
• 9. it's impossible
• 10. below zero
• 11. fade da black trak
• 12. halloween wurks
• 13. ga ga lord r.i.p
• 14. 3 peat
• 15. let me show u girl
• 16. may be sum day
• 17. go hard
• 18. a+ mayhem
• 19. let da beat build
• 20. sexual healing
• 21. he ain't bout it
• 22. free
• 23. lil' mama bad as hell
• 24. give dat man room
• 25. poetry

The sound of Chicago Juke! ‘Da Trak Genious’ is Planet Mu’s compilation of the Footwork tracks of DJ Nate, born Nathan Clark, a 20 year old artist who grew up in the westside of Chicago. He started making Footwork tracks 5 years ago, more recently turning his hand to Hip hop and R'n'B, and the album is an archive compilation of his productions. The Footwork sound has its roots in Chicago House especially the accelerated ‘Ghetto’ house, and the influence and speed of the pioneering Ghetto house label 'Dance Mania' is clear: the tough sentiments and hip hop influence is all there, but the fast linear hypnotic 4x4 sound of those records has been re-calibrated and given an ultra-syncopated treatment to test dancers, the samples and repeated lines are pitch adjusted up and down giving the music a strange hypnotic feel. Footwork tracks are instrumental tracks made for Footwurking, or Jukin'; a dance style that’s local to Chicago that kids use battle each other. It’s a distant relative of the competitive hip hop style of up-rocking but with frantic foot moves that have their roots in Jazz dancing.

This is Nate’s first ever worldwide album release. It’s essentially a selection of tracks that have come out on small edition cdrs and tracks posted on youtube and imeem. DJ Nate uses the basic palette of samples from pop and hip hop, pitched, layered and triggered into unusual edits, often edging into distortion, usually with a simple repeated phrase like ‘hatas our motivation’ used to pump up the dancers. This hypnotizing effect, combined with sparse 808 drum patterns, often with busy fills, relentless triplets and off-kilter accents, is used to create very different variations within his sound. Tracks like ‘Back Up Kid’ and ‘You’re Gonna Love Me' work with modern r'n'b samples, while others like ‘Footowurk Homicide’ and ‘Fade Da Black Trak’ seem to echo their contemporary British sound of Grime. ‘Go Hard’, ‘Let The Beat Build’ and ‘Free’ reach back to earlier soul music, crossing half-time drums with slow, looped soul licks, while ‘A+ Mayhem’ pitch up or chipmunk emo
tracks to hysterical effect. The mood, skill and ADD emotion across the album is difficult to get into first but after some listens the character and voice of DJ Nate’s unique productions comes across.