Carl Craig is an icon of electronic music, a true creative visionary, a Grammy-nominated composer and a world class DJ. Born in Detroit in 1969, he has also become an international ambassador for his city, having launched a premium electronic festival in 2000 (now known as Movement) and mentored and championed a huge variety of local artists.
Born in 1969, Craig grew up with an interest in both instrumental music and electronic club sounds. He released his first track in 1989 and founded his independent record label, Planet E, two years later, with the groundbreaking 4 Jazz Funk Classics, now widely considered an early masterpiece.
In this period Craig established himself as an artist comfortable with diversity in his sounds, one who could do a huge amount with limited few elements. In 1992, he released his Innerzone Orchestra cut ”Bug in the Bassbin,” which is often credited as the spark that ignited the drum’n’bass evolution, and set the stage for an impactful and hugely fruitful career.
Since then, Craig has developed a vast discography while skating between multiple aliases, collaborators and genres, always open, always pushing the boundaries. His varied soundscapes form tapestries upon which all kinds of music meets and intertwines with his electronic base – jazz alongside the legendary Detroit Jazz Collective, or classical music, as seen in the Verses project.
In 2011, Planet E went on a world-wide tour celebrating 20 years of musical exploration and freedom and in the following years Craig won numerous international plaudits, from Rolling Stone naming him one of the most influential DJs on the planet in 2012 to Resident Advisor celebrating his work as one of the top DJs of the year in 2015.
Aside from live sets, he has also worked in film composition and is one of the most in-demand remixers in the world, having succeeded in proving its value as an art form via mixes of Hot Chip, Goldfrapp, Theo Parrish, Caribou, Pet Shop Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Junior Boys (Grammy nominated) and many more.
Few artists have managed to craft a multifaceted career quite like Craig. His art reflects who he is and his success spills over, enriching those around him and the roots he grew from. This February he will be performing a free show at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg in solidarity with South African artists.
Dive into his Qwest TV playlist below, a personal selection that exists beyond genre confines, placing Miles Davis, Robert Glasper and Afrobeat on the same list as modern electronic and avant-garde classics.
