DJ Soko

Michigan native DJ Soko is part of a long line of great technical DJ’s, musical innovators, curators and those who broke key artists and introduced acts that forever changed the landscape of the music scene. You can regard DJ Soko as a young veteran seeing as how he learned directly from the previous generations of Detroit DJ’s while filling the same role his mentors did for the previous generations of Michigan emcees and producers with present ones. Coming up as a young DJ in the Detroit scene, Soko also honed his skills by constantly studying greats, practicing, dj’ing a regiment of gigs, and racking up valuable experience previously dj’ing for Detroit main stays like Clear Soul Forces, and Invincible. Not only has he served as a mentor and provided guidance to many in his age group and younger but he’s also served as a DJ for Journalist 103. This led to him becoming the DJ for The Left alongside Apollo Brown and Journalist 103. Their critically acclaimed LP “Gas Mask” on Mello Music Group was regarded as one of the top 10 Rap LP’s of the year (2010) according to DJ Premier, and has subsequently been regarded as one of the best Rap releases of the past 5 years. DJ Soko’s experiences touring in support of “Gas Mask” gave him an opportunity to soak up even more game and learn the proverbial music industry ropes. In addition to pursuing his musical endeavors, Soko also attends classes and holds down a regular job often showing discipline and focus beyond his years. Soko’s ear and ability to put emcees in position for them to shine over the perfect production is never more evident than it is on his debut project released on his imprint Left Of Center. DJ Soko uses his years coming up in the Detroit scene, his experiences DJ’ing in his current home (the planet of Brooklyn, NY) then blends both of those worlds together seamlessly just like he does when he completes songs by scratching the perfect lines, phrases or sounds. This no more evident than in his release on Mello Music Group’s limited edition 7” vinyl series which managed to sell out in 24 hours. Afterwards, Soko was determined to take the time to craft his solo album. He put together a virtual Hip-Hop Avengers line-up for the project titled “Domino Effect”. All of DJ Soko’s past experiences give him the necessary foundation to carry the torch today and he carries on the traditions set forth by DJ’s and producers like DJ Premier, Tony Touch, House Shoes, DJ Babu, and others while blazing his own trail and cementing his own legacy. *Bio written by Dart Adams, taken from deejaysoko.com