DJ OF THE WEEK 12.13.10: STRICTLY KEV

Clever, creative, one of a kind, it’s these type of words that come to mind when one listens to Strictly Kev in action. His sets are more than mere collections of neck breaking beats and rhythms covering a myriad of genres, from Jazz to Hip Hop to Drum and Bass, all which he deftly cuts up with ease, Kev is a master storyteller, and his mixtapes are a must read.

If only there were more actual words to read about the elusive DJ, producer, and artist himself. Fact is, Kevin Foakes, that’s his government name, lives a very humble and down low existence. We know he is part of the Ninja Tune family, recruited after he took it upon himself to redesign the labels logo. That ever since, he has played a major part in many of the underground labels classic releases for the likes of Coldcut, The Herbaliser, Amon Tobin, Kid Koala, and a whole bunch more. And then there’s DJ Food.

DJ Food, began not as the name of an individual, but a collective of DJs and producers started by Matt Black and Jonathan More aka Coldcut and later joined by Paul Brook, Paul Rabiger, Issac Ellisto, and others. Their most notable work was the Jazz Breaks series, volumes 1-5, released in the 90’s, and still played heavily to this day by DJs that know better. Eventually all of the members more or less went out to do their own thing, leaving Kev at the helm. He hasn’t stopped since.

Donning the DJ Food cape, Kev has continued to work hard, and these days he’s still dropping mix tapes -for which he designs all of the accompanying artwork, and that of most of the Ninja Tunes roster as well- and consistently playing his eclectic mix of Hip Hop, Jazz, and more to discerning party people all over the world. If this is your first introduction to Kev, or better yet, DJ Food, get ready, dinner is served.

Linkage:

DJFOOD