One of Five’s biggest musical assets, Cajjmere Wray, has been doing it his way since the age of 16. Cajjmere gained an early appreciation for club culture when as an underage music aficionado he’d sneak into Toronto clubs and soak up the vibes, play music and, if necessary, hide behind the decks when trouble came calling. Today, Cajjmere is one of Toronto’s most respected and busiest DJs.
One of the few DJs in Toronto to still spin and produce the classic “bitch house” sound (basically house tracks with a lighthearted bitchy spoken-word element), Cajjmere stirs the house mix along with other variant styles ranging from lounge, afro, electro-house and prog tech house to garage, gospel, Latin and tribal. Drawing from influences as disparate as Kenny Glasgow, Masters At Work, Peace Division, Danny Tenaglia and Armand Van Helden, Cajjmere tears up dancefloors.
Building on the success of this year’s club hit “Runway,” Cajjmere is set to drop his second EP on the masses, Ecstasy Queen (released under the pseudonym Haus Of Lies). Cajjmere describes it as “a track you can’t stand still to.”
Combining DJing and producing is necessary for Cajjmere. “I have my DJ side where I play for the people; as a DJ, I don’t play for myself. So producing my own music is a way to indulge my creative side, to do something for me.
“Ecstasy has definitely got more of a broad-appeal sound, and people have responded really well to it.”
In addition to working the decks at Five’s successful College Night Wednesdays, producing music for Toronto’s Fashion Week festivities, keeping up with various club appearances around Toronto’s gay and straight club scenes or broadcasting on CHIN Radio’s Global Groove network, Cajjmere is busy working on product for his own record label, D’Lish-Us Music.
Years of hard work and perseverance have now led to being a finalist in the Smirnoff Vinyl Warriors contest. Check out Mysmirnoff.ca, listen to DJ mixes on-line and vote for your favourite.
Whether you’ve known it at the time or not, you’ve likely been in the presence of Cajjmere as he mixes it up and delivers the goods to an appreciative Toronto fan base. His years of dedication, passion for music and love of a great party have contributed invaluably to Toronto’s growing status as a hotbed of DJ talent. So get on-line and support your local DJ.
* Five nightclub presents Lick My 12″, the Cajjmere record release party on Wed, Dec 1.
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