DJ Rashad

October 9, 1979 – April 26, 2014

By Ellie Pritts

May 2^nd, 2014

a legend lost

Last week Chicago lost one of its most talented and promising artists. DJ Rashad, born Rashad Hanif Harden was “Chicago Footwork‘s Ambassador to the World”. Quoting Rolling Stone’s Dave Quam, “the legacy he left behind is one of enormous stature, one that will live on forever. He changed the face of modern dance music, and footwork will never be the same without him.”

DJ Rashad was renowned for his important role in the footwork music scene. “Footwork” refers to the specific kind of dancing that accompanies the music. I found a great quote in “Midwest Electric: The Story of Chicago House and Detroit Techno” that explains this, “their feet fly at insane speeds, something of a cross between house dance, tap dancing and breakdancing footwork. It looks like a dance from another dimension. The music they dance to is related to juke, but it‘s way more spacious, with more rhythmic complexity. Some tracks like ‘Reverb’ by DJ Rashad are downright experimental walls of pulsating noise that would make John Cage proud. All these styles speak to the truth that house music never really left Chicago, as is often said. Its legacy continues to reverberate and mutate throughout the city.”

These are photos I took of DJ Rashad at Pitchfork Festival 2013. His performance there was outstanding and full of energy. He was accompanied by his TekLife crew of talented DJs and dancers, many of whom are pictured here. Rashad was scheduled to perform again at this year’s festival and I’m saddened to know that I’ll never have a chance to photograph him again.