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Biography
Hailing from Montréal, Canada and of Moroccan and Russian descent, Macklovitch’s musical introduction was playing with his father’s record player at age 13, before purchasing equipment of his own and teaching himself how to scratch. Macklovitch helped formed the rap group Obscure Disorder in 1995 with his older brother David Macklovitch (who formed one half of the synth pop duo Chromeo) promoting Canadian rap to a wider audience. The Macklovitch brothers also established their own label named Audio Research, on which they released Obscure Disorder’s debut single “Lyrically Exposed” in 1997.
The Year also marked the start of A-Trak’s burgeoning rap battling career that would see the DJ rise to previously unseen heights at such a young age. Starting with a win at the DMC World Championship in Italy, and onto victories at the ITF, Vestax World Extravaganza and DMC Team World Championships in both 1999 and 2000. Macklovitch was the youngest ever DJ to win three world championships, as well as the youngest to win five.
At the tender age of 18 A-Trak retired from DJ battling and the 2000s saw Macklovitch focus on his own music; founding the DJ collective the Allies and working with artists such as Non Phixion and Peanut Butter Wolf. A-Trak’s next big break was when he played at a London record store and met Kanye West. Kanye then enlisted Macklovitch’s help on his North American tour and subsequently the albums “Late Registration” and “Graduation” and a number of mixtapes, snowballing the DJ's career to the mainstream and promoting the relevance of talented turntablists.
Since then A-Trak has had the creative freedom to pursue his own interests; releasing his 2007 “Dirty South Dance,” a rap and electronic remix album; producing for Lupe Fiasco and Kid Sister; releasing his own entry in the Fabriclive series; collaborating with Armand Van Helden on the disco house project Duck Sauce; working alongside Kimbra and Mark Foster for the song “Warrior”. A-Trak unsurprisingly is able to find steady work collaborating with some of the biggest names in popular culture and hip-hop including Drake and Kid Cudi, and seems set for even greater heights.
Live reviews
Alain Macklovitch known simply by his stage name A-Trak is a Canadian DJ, producer and owner of the record label Fool's Gold. He is known to be a huge player on the electro and house circuit and has gained a following by both fans and established artists including Kanye West and Armand Van Helden as his reputation grew.
Although he has killer connections and enough work as a record label exec to keep him occupied, he still very much enjoys heading out onto the live circuit to play for his fanbase who are always assured he will bring the party. A number of DJs may have some great floor fillers to get the crowd moving but A-Trek is intent on keeping the excitement levels at dizzying heights all nights as he drops mix after mix whilst his hype men really do their best to whip up a storm. There are lasers involved, inflatable balls, confetti and of course some high quality dance music all used to create a truly unforgettable electro/dance experience. The DJ himself looks incredibly pleased with the audience tonight who have jumped, danced, cheered and sang in all the right places and erupt as one whilst A-Trek stands above the decks and takes a final bow.
sean-ward
Star producer A-Trak, perhaps better known for being half of Duck Sauce, brought his own brand of mix and scratch music to XOYO, London, back in 2011, and to say that that I remember the night like it was just yesterday would be a downright lie! We had far too good a time to remember such insignificant details as the selection of tunes he actually played :)
It was, however, a great night out. And A-Trak made it so. He rolled out a fine array of dance floor bangers, peppering the set with a smattering of quality hip hop and a few remixes of some old school tracks. We also caught a glimmer of his turntable mastery and were hugely impressed.
Duck Sauce’s smash hit ‘Barbra Streisand’ sticks out as a highlight of the set, mainly due to the enthusiasm with which it was met by the onlooking crowd. A-Trak, who is originally from Montreal, created an excellent dance floor atmosphere here in London, and showed us all what he has to offer… and we loved it!
samseyes
