DJ Funk, Ghetto House Originator, Dead at 53

DJ Funk, the Chicago producer who created and named the subgenre of ghetto house, is dead. He was 54, per The Guardian, though other sources report his birthday as June 20, 1971. DJ Slugo, a collaborator in the scene, confirmed his death on Instagram. According to a GoFundMe, Funk, born Charles Chambers, had stage 4 cancer. DJ Funk made a career in Chicago by playing sped-up versions of the house tracks born in the city, and adding dirty lyrics, during the ’90s. His 1994 EP Street Traxx II included the first use of the name “ghetto house.” His 1999 album Booty House Anthems later sold 1 million copies in the U.S., as he became known for tracks like “Pump It” and “Work Dat Body.” Funk later founded his own label, Funk Records, in 2006, and was instrumental in the revival of ghetto-house label Dance Mania in 2013.

Ghetto house went on to influence high-speed juke and footwork music in Chicago in the late ’90s as well. But Funk’s influence extended to the top of electronic dance music. He was one of the producers named on Daft Punk’s 1997 track “Teachers,” and Justice tapped him for a remix in 2013.

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