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Teklife’s DJ Taye Shares Jittery, Wobbling ‘F—k ‘Em’

Teklife's DJ Taye Shares Jittery, Wobbling 'Fuck 'Em' Stream Footwork

We lost a great when footwork godfather DJ Rashad passed unexpectedly last month. To paraphrase the introduction to our favorite tracks by the man: When Frankie Knuckles died, we lost a vital piece of Chicago dance music’s history; when Rashad Harden left us, we lost an unfathomably large chunk of the music’s future. His legacy does live on, however, in those he inspired and fellow members of his Teklife crew — the backbone of the city’s juke-inspired sound. We’ve heard from DJ Spinn. Now meet DJ Taye, the group’s youngest star whose minimal but effective approach has landed him a Hyperdub cosign and plenty of hometown hype. On June 3, he’ll drop TEK x TAR Vol. 3, the next installment in a cross-label collaboration with the titular Los Angeles imprint.

Run by Paul Preston, a.k.a. Brainfeeder affiliate PBDY, TAR trades in 100-percent free digital sets, carefully curated not for genre, but for spirit and innovation. Past releases — which always feature exactly three tracks — have included psych-rock (Sabba Rabba), weird punk (Kynan Williams’ Champ), freaky rap (Sidewalk Kal) and, of course, innovative beat music from Teklife members DJ Earl and DJ Manny.

Below, you’ll hear DJ Taye’s jittery, wobble-warped cut “F—k ‘Em.”

TEK x TAR Vol. 3 track list:

1. “Turn Up”
2. “RollDatShitUp” (feat. DJ Earl)
3. “F—k ‘Em”