With DJs becoming increasingly prominent in the music industry, DC is gaining a reputation as home to a wide range of talent that includes some well known names like Thievery Corporation and Deep Dish. With all of the new talent emerging, it can be difficult to keep up when it seems like every bar, club, and lounge has a DJ spinning tunes.

DJ Eurok (you-rock) is a multi-talented DJ, producer, poet and hip-hop MC who recently released his debut album, Self Realization. It is earning raves as an “exciting vision of post hip-hop instrumental music�? and generating buzz on the local scene. DJ Eurok creates music that challenges and redefines genres. His instrumental stylings fuse hip-hop foundations with soulful downtempo, jazzy grooves, uptempo house and drum and bass, as well as eastern and Arabic musical traditions.

How did your career as a dj start? What inspired you to get started?

I was introduced to hip-hop music at a very young age. My mother gave me a RUN-DMC tape for Christmas in 1986. I had asked for an AC/DC tape but she messed up and got me the RUN-DMC instead. Anyway, I really loved that tape �?? Jam Master Jay seemed like the coolest dude in the whole crew. The idea of being an MC at the time didn’t appeal to me �?? I wanted to be the guy on stage scratching and playing the keyboards. My love of hip-hop ultimately led me in that direction.

It wasn’t until college that the idea of being a DJ actually clicked. I went to a small college outside of Philly with a boring party scene. We would have hip-hop DJs come on campus two or three times a year, for the Black Students League or the Latino Students Association parties, but we never had enough money to hire DJs to come to regular house parties. I finally started spinning myself so that people could be exposed to great music more often than a couple of times a year. I did my first party in the Spring of my freshman year (with two CD discmans and a two-channel mixer).

After that it was all over. That summer I worked as a temp at Duracell in my hometown of Danbury, Connecticut and saved up for my turntables. I came back that fall and have been throwing parties ever since. Five years later (it took me a little longer to get out of college because of this) we had totally transformed the campus party culture and really changed things for the better.

What was your first big break?

Things were really slow when I moved to DC â€??? it’s a hard city to be a DJ in because there are not too many venues and a lot of DJs. I was mostly just working house parties and spinning in my apartment. One week, I was asked to fill in for one of the DJs at the Ritz. I went and rocked it and got my first weekly gig out of it. It’s funny, because what I do now is so far removed from the DC downtown club scene (the Ritz, VIP, dream etc…) but that’s where I got my start.

Where do you see the future of music headed?

The lines between pop/commercial music and underground are going to both blur and get more defined. It’s a weird time for music. On the rap side, it will definitely get more defined as commercial rap is out of control �?? when you have Redman doing songs with Christina Aguilera or 50 Cent on a Justin Timberlake track; it is just a parody of itself. All this market saturation forces the talent to put out better product, like Jay Z and Nas have been doing. I’d like to see some new creativity to the dance music scene that isn’t so cheesy and predictable. I hope some crazy transcendal beat driven music comes along to help clear things up, because all the genres are pretty comfortable with themselves and not pushing hard at all.

Do you think DJs are gaining increased recognition as musicians?

Those who are really pushing in terms of composition and technique have helped the recognition factor. But the superstar DJs aren’t really musicians at all. It’s one thing to create new compositions using vast music sources and scratch techniques all live on the turntable – that’s being a musician. But being some DJ playing other people’s records, yeah you might be a dope DJ â€??? but you’re still just a DJ.

What do you think defines your sound from others? How do you describe your style?

My whole sound is built on a hip-hop foundation. If I am producing a drum and bass or down tempo track, it’s still hip-hop. It’s all in my approach and ear. So you can’t escape that with me â€??? in terms of tempo and sonically. It’s also what I love to spin â€??? so that’s what I rock the crowd with. But I understand the power of experimentation, so I’m not married to any particular genre. I’ll play Lebanese Blonde by Thievery and mix into Unbelievable by Biggie. Who does that â€??? and pulls it off? With a hip-hop foundation â€??? we start with the drum, and from there the groove makes itself. I find solace in the sounds other people might ignore.

What are the last 3 cds you have purchased?

I hardly buy CDs anymore, only records, but when I buy a CD, it’s an event. You buy CDs for different reasons â€??? something to listen to in the car that’s not out on wax, etc. I would have to say Ze Manel’s album Maron di Mar, the Poemcees Paranoia and Thunderball’s first album.

Where can people hear you?

I’m at Chief Ike’s on Thursdays for vintage hip-hop and Lush (downstairs from the Reef) on Tuesdays for experimental three-turntable beat science. (Both nights are spun with Orbit 122).