* En anglais uniquement
DJ Spinn (born Morris Harper) is one of the most visible members of Chicago's frenetic juke/footwork scene, with releases on
Planet Mu and
Hyperdub as well as a constant touring schedule. Along with fellow scene pioneers such as
DJ Rashad and
DJ Gantman,
Spinn co-founded Teklife, 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
DJ Rashad. Both artists featured on a 1998 split 12" by DJ Chip and DJ Thadz on Chicago's legendary ghetto house label Dance Mania Records. 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
Rashad formed the Ghettoteknitianz collective in 2004, and their Girl Bust Down EP appeared on Detroit's Juke Trax label that year.
By the end of the decade,
Spinn's tracks appeared on mixes by
DJ Godfather and
RP Boo.
Spinn and
Rashad's split EP 4 the Ghetto appeared on Chicago label Ghettophiles in 2010, and at the end of the year, the footwork scene was introduced to the world when
Planet Mu 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
Planet Mu also released
Spinn's
Man I Do It EP that same year.
Around this time, Ghettoteknitianz evolved into Teklife and expanded their impact globally, enlisting members from far outside the Chicago scene. The Teklife crew became affiliated with British label
Hyperdub in 2013, and
Spinn appeared on
DJ Rashad's releases for the label that year.
Spinn released his first EP for the label,
Off That Loud, in 2015, additionally co-producing
Jessy Lanza's single "You Never Show Your Love" the same year. He remixed songs by
DJ Shadow and
Kelela and collaborated with
DJ Taye and Philip D Kick before releasing his second
Hyperdub EP, Da Life, in 2019. ~ Paul Simpson