 Montreal´s DJ A-Trak browsing for classic LP-playing possibilities-A deejay is always on the move.
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Do you know that overwhelming feeling you get when you first come back to school after a long absence? Alain Macklovitch, a 22-year old biology student at McGill, knows how you feel. He is overcome by intense nostalgia as he sits by the Redpath Library that overlooks Lower Field. Macklovitch is back in Montreal for four days, taking the semester off from his glycolysis and splicing to tour with Usher and Kanye West.
Let's back up a second here. What is a McGill biology student doing with the Louis Vuitton don and the singer with The Hottest Abs of All Time?
It just so happens that Macklovitch, aka DJ A-Trak, has been a scratch DJ since he was 13 years old. A five-time world champion and the youngest DJ to ever win all the major DJ-ing titles, he inspired a whole legion of young bedroom DJs to get out and compete.
When he retired from the DJ battle scene at the age of 18, he continued making music, running hip-hop label Audio Research with his brother Dave, and doing club shows all over the world. On one of his trips to London in May, A-Trak was doing an in-store performance on the same day as John Legend, Kanye's indispensable right-hand musician. Kanye West caught about four minutes of Macklovitch's performance.
"I didn't get to talk to Kanye at the in-store, but by luck I got to meet him the next day at a press conference, and right away he told me, 'I'm going on tour with Usher, I need a DJ. Do you want to come?'"
Macklovitch, of course, accepted the offer. But he insists that his decision was not made in haste.
"Basically, I like what Kanye stands for with his live show;Â he brings a couple of artists with him and gives them their time in the spotlight."
A-Trak and John Legend are both given time in the 35-minute set to showcase their skills. Macklovitch notes that, had this not been the case, he would not have accepted Kanye's offer. With any other musician, it would have been a matter of putting a record on and pressing play.
"I was tired of doing the same shows," he said. "I mean, once in a while some feel a bit different, but it was the same scene everywhere that I would play for. I wanted to show this stuff to a more mainstream MTV audience because I knew it had some appeal that hadn't been exposed yet."
West and Macklovitch each come from very different hip hop backgrounds. While Kanye West has worked with such well-known names as Jay-Z, Mos Def, Cam'ron, and GLC, Macklovitch has worked with the likes of Non-Phixion, Peanut Butter Wolf, Madlib, and local hip hop outfit Obscure Disorder. Despite these differences, however, their tastes converge on classic mid '90s rap.
Macklovitch's camaraderie has extended to the whole Kanye West entourage. "What was nice about all of them was that they took me in right away. Kanye is known for having more of an ironic outlook [compared to other MCs] anyway, and I can really relate to people like John Legend. I mean, we both read the
New Yorker and love
Seinfeld. I don't think I would have that sort of relationship with, say, Lil' Jon," he jokes.
"However, I am the only person on the tour without a gold chain," he points out.
What's next for Macklovitch after the tour finishes up on October 14 in New York?
A-Trak is in talks with West to stay on as his DJ. He also wants to continue doing his own club shows; finish up his CD/DVD retrospective,
Sunglasses is a Must for next spring; promote his record label; and of course, head back to school at McGill. There's no question that he'll be busier than he was before.
I ask him if he's eager to come back.
"Half and half. I mean, I love being on tour, but I'm really nostalgic right now. I miss the Bunsen burners, I miss my paninis with salad and watching
106 & Park at Caférama during lunch," he says.
He glances around briefly and something catches his eye.
"And I miss the Von Dutch sightings," he says, chuckling as a young man with said trucker hat walks past.
"But seriously though, the more I'm away and the more places I travel, the more I realize how much I love Montreal."
 He is silent.
 "And McGill of course."
More information about A-Trak can be found at www.djatrak.com and through his record label, Audio Research at www.audioresearch.net.
2008 Woodie Awards
