DJ Drez

DJ Drez cemented his impact on the underground DJ scene in 2004, when he dropped his groundbreaking album The Capture of Sound, a whipped-smooth blend of reggae and jazz with hip-hop. Ordinarily we’re a little suspicious of white dudes with dreads, but Drez’s are long enough — and his message is upbeat enough — for us to give him a pass and endorse his set at the Blunt Club at Hollywood Alley in Mesa this Thursday, February 9. “The Selecta,” as he’s known, is a font of positivity, and his complex sound manipulations reflect his work-for-change worldview. And in case you’re wondering, yeah, we just called him a hippie.