Besides pissing off big-name recording artists and motivating them to boycott Arizona, last month's passage of SB 1070 became an absolute call to arms for those in the local music scene. And one of the first artists to answer the call was DJ John Blaze.
Along with P-Town hip-hop siren Queen YoNasDa, the outspoken mixmaster and producer helped organize the creation of "Back 2 AZ (Anti 1070)," a fierce eight-minute "fuck you" to Governor Jan Brewer, state senator Russell Pearce, and anyone else behind the passage of the "papers please" law. It features a slew of local rappers and other wordsmiths (including Tajji Sharp, Atllas, Yung Face, Mr. Miranda, and Ocean) and -- fittingly enough -- samples the same backing beat as Public Enemy's 1991 track "By The Time I Get To Arizona."
Blaze not only contributed the song to our recently released protest compilation A Line In The Sand (click here to purchase a copy) but also took time out of his busy schedule to participate in this week's DJ Dossier.
Name: John Blaze
AKA: The Talk of the Town
How did you I got started as a DJ: I've loved all kind of music, but I wasn't to get to it until a certain point in my life. I played basketball a lot growing up, so that was kind of my number one thing. But once I got to the end of that I picked up the music thing, I knew I had a passion for music and I loved hip-hop and kind of just went from there.
Current club nights: I've been a resident at PHX Nightclub in the past, I've done nights at Club Rain, and I'm gonna be doing some nights at Suede in July. But for the most part I'm doing a lot of guest appearances right now.
Genres spun: Mostly just hip-hop, R&B, and Top 40. I like to include everything, depending on the crowd, which really is what I base everything off of. But for the most part it's hip-hop. I like doing the classic stuff, but -- like I said -- it just depends on the crowd.