RJ Krohn is currently one of the most talented DJ's on the scene right now for a variety of reasons. To begin, RJD2 has managed to spread himself across genres in a way that many electronic DJs of our time have failed to do as they fall into a comfort zone of the norm in a particular niche of electronic merely recycling old ideas. This is true in any genre, but many have argued that Dubstep in particular has this problem. Not that the niche in of itself is bad, but because of an explosive growth a number of copy cat artists fans were left to sift through multiple tracks to find the masters of the genre. Again, I agree this is true with every genre, but nonetheless RJD2 has put himself on the map by doing the opposite. RJD2 has worked with hip-hop artists such as Aceyalone on the album Magnificant City Instrumentals. In addition, RJ has produced solo work using sampling. Seeking a way to really push his sound he got rid of using other's samples. This sparked the creative vision on his album titled "The Third Hand," which uses instrumental and vocals samples produced organically all by RJ Krohn himself. Not only a musician, RJ now releases his work through RJ's electrical connections allowing the harsh deadlines of recording and distribution to not hinder him from using as much time as necessary to produce quality work. Recently he has worked on a side project Icebird in order to create the effect of a full band, all while using certain techniques he has incorporated into his work for years. Maybe you think you haven't heard his music, but if you've watched "MadMen" then you will recognize his track “A Beautiful Mine” as the theme song.
Love him or hate him this guy deserves some huge respect for his large incorporation of spinning actual vinyls with samples on them. "Work with limited resources ya know what I mean? It's four turntables and records, ya know I don't have a lot of fancy computer shit or whatever. But at least I hope, I hope that it's trying to make something from a point of view that people know understand, ya know, cause most the people they come they DJ or their friend DJs or some shit, hopefully they learn to understand the concept at least" (See first posted video). He has used samplers in the past, but he knows that his live show is enhanced because he doesn't have to struggle with making a controller sound different from the studio recording. I am not ripping on other artists here, but this guy deserves more attention as the whole electronic scene continues to gain massive recognition.
We have quickly seen that many electronic artists have similar feelings. Though they may not have thrown away controllers they have added another DJ, live guitars, and more commonly, another drummer. We have seen this in the state of Texas with Austin native D.V.S. who is "The future of guitar in electronica". Big Gigantic has exploded on the scene in the past few years and anyone who has seen them knows that their fierce live drummer and saxophonist make the show, not the sick beats in of themselves (Big Gigantic Preview to be posted this week). I believe other artists will continue to follow suit as fans love seeing their favorite studio version of a song come to life with real instruments complementing electronic technology. In all, a perfect example of genuine organic music in the sampling DJ realm is RJD2. In the words of one fan, "RJD2 is the truth". Catch him at Lights All Night on Friday Dec. 30th performing in the Bass Hall from 10:00-11:00.
RJD2 - Ghostwriter by MrAnonymas 
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