DJ Craze was born in Managua, Nicaragua. At the age of 3, in 1980,[1] he fled the country with his family during the war which lasted throughout the 1980s.[2] Craze and his family moved to San Francisco, California, where they lived for a short while, before moving to Miami, Florida, where he currently resides.[3]
The style of his music carries many of his past musical influences. Initially influenced by the Miami Bass movement when he was younger, Craze has gone on to incorporate elements of hip-hop, drum n bass, and breaks in his turntable routines. Recently, Craze has shifted his emphasis to DJing and producing drum n bass with his own record label "Cartel".
Craze released his first album in 1999, Crazee Musick, and a second in 2002, Scratch Nerds. He also released an album called D-Day in 2002 with his turntable crew, the Allies.[4]
Craze has released two of the most popular battle records ever, "Bully Breaks" and "Bully Breaks 2".
Recently, Craze created his own record label with fellow DJ and friend Kill The Noise, Slow Roast Records. Slow Roast is distributed by Fool's Gold, the record label shared by A-Trak and Nick Catchdubs. Other than Craze and Kill The Noise, Klever, Codes, and Senor Stereo also release material under the Slow Roast label.[5]
In February 2011, DJ Craze and DJ Shiftee worked together, spinning on-stage with controllerist and Traktor S4 consultant Ean Golden at Club EVE in downtown Miami for the Midi Fight Club event. Between the two of them, DJ Craze and DJ Shiftee had 7 DMC world championships behind them. The event highlighted the use of Native Instruments controllers, such as the X1, S4 and Maschine.[6]
In September 2011, DJ Craze became Yelawolf's touring DJ as he was featured on the rapper's "Hard White Tour", along with Rittz, however he was replaced in early 2014 by DJ Klever.
DJ Craze worked with THUMP and A-Trak in 2017 to bring DJ Battles in the Goldie Awards. He judged the competition along with other famous DJs like Diplo, Mannie Fresh, The Whooligan, Destructo, Just Blaze, and Mija.[7]
