Well they can’t all be winners.

I used to be a fan of A-Trak. He was the youngest ever DMC champion, he was making beats and touring with Kanye West in his prime, he was keeping it real on the hip hop streets and collaborating with other turntablists, he was rising fast. But then came electro-house.

A-Trak, along with Armand Van Helden, as Duck Sauce were even nominated for a Grammy, for the surprise smash “Barbara Streisand”. I guess, as Kanye proved, once you go Hollywood you’ll never be the same again. A-Trak’s late night set on the Red Marquees was fairly packed to start off but then things started to thin out as the electro house and hard pounding beats kept going and going.

I don’t necessarily dislike electro house or house or tech-house, but unless the production is very high or the DJ is extremely skilled at mixing and blending, the experience can get repetitive fast. I’m not sure if I was expecting A-Trak to go back to his hip hop or turntablist roots, but I know I was expecting a bit more variety than what he gave us at Fuji Rock. The use of some actual records would have been nice too, but maybe that’s too much to ask for most DJs these days. A-Trak did have a few moments of scratching in his set, just to show he still has it I guess, but unless turntablism is performed with actual records, I don’t give the act much credit.

I know, or I hope at least, A-Trak still has it in him to play records, to play some hip hop, to show he hasn’t forgotten his roots. I also know it’s easy to jump on trends and try to be like all these EDM superstars, but there’s also something to be said about keeping it real once in a while, not alienating your original fan base and at least giving them a bit of the Brooklyn flavor they once loved you for.