Who Is Dj Chief?

Who is Dj Chief?

Dj Chief was born in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1982. He began making mixtapes at age 10, using a dual cassette deck to compile and remix songs by Hip-Hop artists of the day.

Chief was dubbing copies of his own mixtapes and selling them to classmates by age 14, changing DJ names a few times before settling on “Chief” at age 15, when he would also start his first DJ gig at Planet Ice in Palm Beach Gardens.

Many more gigs followed, including a weekly job at Atlantis Skateway in Lake Worth, local music festivals, private parties, and “unofficial” sets at the 21+ clubs in downtown West Palm Beach.

Chief moved to Orlando to attend UCF in 2000 at age 17, and joined the DJ line-up at Diversity Beats Mondays at AKA Lounge, a local service industry night that also catered to bboys and girls. It was here that Chief joined up with Back Yard Funk Crew.

BackYard Funk Crew: Ynot, CHiEF, Snake, Pie Masta, and Crazy C — Back Yard Funk Crew: (clockwise from left) Ynot, CHiEF, Snake, Pie Masta, and Crazy C (2006)

Chief played alongside Orlando favorites Brain Reward (Dj Cyber and M-Chill), Dj Aeon, Dj Caution, and was joined later by Florida superstar Dj Rincon. After some time as a regular DJ at a thriving weekly get down, and after a significant learning curve to play for bboys and bgirls as opposed to his usual playlists of popular Hip-Hop and Dancehall Reggae, Chief started getting hired to play at local jams alongside the OG Dj Magic, who educated Chief through his deep library of rare tracks.

Dj Chief at Breakin’ Convention in Miami (2018)

dj chief @ Bboy Battle of the Elements — Dj Chief at Breakin’ Convention in Miami (2018)

Chief was known for combining his battle-arranged Technic turntables and mixer with live, improvised Latin percussion via a Roland Handsonic, laying additional percussion over the tracks he played. He also prepared his own cypher-ready versions of well-known songs, including current hits and classics.

After relocating to South Florida in 2009, Chief connected with high school friend Sway Beats, who had also just moved back to town, and within months they collaborated on the Radio Breaks Worldwide podcast, and what would eventually become Bboysounds.

Chief and Sway at BlackBird Ordinary after Zulu Nation Miami’s 20th party anniversary in 2013

Since then, Dj Chief has produced countless mixtapes, singles, and albums that have been featured at some of the biggest bboy events around the world, including Red Bull BC One, Battle of the Year, Silverback Open, Miami Pro-Am, and many more.

He has curated hundreds of articles and conducted dozens of interviews for Bboysounds, and he also writes his own column “Behind the Beats” at his website.