A-Trak

A-Trak (Alain Macklovitch)
Background information
Birth name	Alain Macklovitch
Born	March 30, 1982 (1982-03-30)
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Electro house, hip hop
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Fool's Gold Thrive Audio Research
Associated acts	Kanye West, Boys Noize, Kid Cudi, Armand Van Helden, Jay-Z, DJ Craze, Kid Sister, Travis Barker, Duck Sauce
Website	Official website

A-Trak (born Alain Macklovitch on March 30, 1982) is a Montreal-born DJ, turntablist, and owner of the record label Fool's Gold.

Career

Montreal-born, New York-based A-Trak was the first DJ to win all three major DJ competition titles (DMC, ITF and Vestax), as well as being the first DJ to win five World Championships. He won the DMCs World DJ Championship in 1997 at the age of 15, making him the youngest and first Canadian winner of the competition. He was an honorary member of the prestigious, now defunct DJ crew Invisibl Skratch Piklz, and a member of The Allies alongside frequent collaborator DJ Craze.

Macklovitch is the younger brother of David Macklovitch of the Montreal-based band Chromeo, with whom he ran the record label Audio Research from 1997-2007. He, along with Nick Catchdubs then founded the Fool's Gold Records label in 2007.

In the late 90's A-Trak developed a notation system for scratching. He gave a lecture about it at the Skratchcon 2000 conference and published an article in Tablist Magazine. He has also appeared on the cover of multiple magazines including URB (twice), BPM and Status.

In 2004 Kanye West recruited him as his personal tour DJ, and he has worked closely with him ever since, including performances alongside the US rapper at MTV specials, the Grammy Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and worldwide stadium shows. A-Trak also recorded scratches on Kanye West’s second and third studio albums Late Registration in 2005 and Graduation in 2007, and was an influence on the overall sound of the latter.

Over the years he has been endorsed by several brands including Serato Scratch Live, Rane DJ equipment, as well as clothing companies; Zoo York, Lifted Research Group and Circa. A-Trak also has a collaborative clothing line called “Sunglasses is a Must,” and released his own toy "Grateful Bear" with Kid Robot in 2009.

He is known for merging the sounds of rap and electronic music through his remix work, his 2007 CD "Dirty South Dance," his production for Kid Sister and Lupe Fiasco, and his remixes for electronic artists including MSTRKRFT and Boys Noize. The hit single by Kid Cudi, Day 'n' Night, was released on an EP by A-Trak's label Fool's Gold.

In 2009, A-Trak collaborated with Armand Van Helden to form a disco house production duo under the stage name Duck Sauce. They released "aNYway" in October on Ministry of Sound. Other Duck Sauce tracks include "Grand Steppin", "The Motion", "You're Nasty", "Big Bad Wolf" and "Barbra Streisand".

In February 2010, it was announced that A-Trak will perform live shows with Travis Barker who had previously worked with their mutual friend, the late DJ AM

A-Trak has also become a streetwear culture icon, collaborating with Nike, New Era, Kidrobot, and Zoo York. The last couple of years have seen Trizzy headlining tours and festival stages the world over, as well scratching on Common’s classic Be, Kanye’s Late Registration and Graduation, and Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon, as well as producing Kid Sister’s debut album Ultraviolet, songs with Lupe Fiasco, and original releases with Stones Throw and Kitsune.

In October 2010, he released a song entitled "Ray Ban Vision" with G.O.O.D. Music's CyHi Da Prynce.

A-Trak performed at The Voodoo Experience 2011 at City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana on October 28–30, 2011.

On December 16, 2011, A-Trak performed an hour long opening set at Madison Square Garden in New York City as the opening act for Swedish House Mafia.

Awards

• 1997 Technics / DMC World Champion (15 years old - youngest ever)
• 1998 Technics/ DMC World 2nd Runner Up
• 1999 ITF World Champion (Advancement category)
• 1999 ITF Western Hemisphere Scratching Champion
• 1999 Vestax World DJ Extravaganza Champion
• 2000 ITF World Champion (Advancement category)
• 2000 DMC Team Champion (with DJ Craze)

Discography

• Gangsta Breaks (12")
• Buck Tooth Wizards (CD)
• Enter Ralph Wiggum (7")
• Monkey Boy Breaks (12")
• Don't Fool With The Dips (12")
• Oh No You Didn't! Live From Vancouver (CD)
• Drive Slow Mixtape w/ GLC (CD)
• Sunglasses Is A Must (DVD)
• Dirty South Dance (CD), Obey's 4th mixtape, limited to 5000 copies.
• Running Man: Nike+ Original Run (Exclusive to iTunes)
• FabricLive.45 (April 2009) (CD)
• Infinity+1 (2009) (CD)
• Dirty South Dance 2 (2010)

Remixes

• Laidback Luke & Sander van Doorn - Who's Wearing The Cap (A-Trak Remix)
• Kanye West - Stronger (A-Trak Remix)
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix, Radio Edit, and Dub)
• Tiga - What U Need (A-Trak Remix)
• Robyn - Indestructible (A-Trak Remix and Radio Edit)
• MSTRKRFT - Bounce (A-Trak Remix)
• Sebastien Tellier - Kilometer (A-Trak Remix)
• Boys Noize - Oh! (A-Trak Remix)
• Digitalism - Idealistic (A-Trak Remix)
• The Count & Sinden - Beeper (A-Trak Remix)
• Justice - D.A.N.C.E (A-Trak Remix) [For DJ Hero 2 Only]
• Naughty By Nature "O.P.P" vs. Jackson 5 "ABC" (A-Trak Remix) [DJ Hero 2 Only]
• The Rapture - How Deep Is Your Love? (A-Trak Remix)

See also

• Disco Mix Club
• List of Quebec musicians
• Duck Sauce

External links

• Official website
• A-Trak on Myspace
• A-Trak on RCRD LBL