DJ Symphony

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DJ Symphony
DJ-Symphony-Wikipedia.png
Background information
Also known asSymphony Taylor
Born (1980-08-01) August 1, 1980 (age 42)
Origin Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s)
Instrument(s)
Years active1989 (1989)–-present (-present)
LabelsIce H2O Records, Instant Music Group
Website www.djsymphony.com

Symphony Taylor (born August 1, 1976) is an American hip hop producer, radio personality, and official DJ for GZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. Symphony has worked with artists such as Digital Underground, Tony Touch, DJ Boogie Blind, DJ Scratch from EPMD, The Beatnuts, [1] Sean Price, P. Diddy, Nas, MF Doom, Alchemists, Mobb Deep, Portia Dee, Rick Ross, KRS-One, 2 Chainz, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Yelawolf, Onyx, 9th Wonder, B2K's Raz-B and B-Nasty

Contents

Early life

Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, DJ Symphony started deejaying at age 9 when his older brothers requested him to be the DJ for their rap group New Poet Society. [2] He played local parties in the New Jersey area and was mentored in the craft by the late DJ Kashief, who was also a popular deejay in the New Jersey area at the time. DJ Symphony started making mixtapes by age 12, and used whatever money he made selling mixtapes to help him buy more vinyl records. DJ Symphony began his professional career in 1995 deejaying in nightclubs, restaurants, colleges and block parties in the New Jersey and New York area.

Career

Radio

DJ Symphony performing in Chile DJ Symphony Performing in Chile.jpg
DJ Symphony performing in Chile

DJ Symphony became a radio DJ for 103.3 WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey in 1996 and ran a weekly program called Vibes and Vapours. In 1997, he also started to deejay for Rutgers University and did their Black Madness events. Although DJ Symphony devoted most of his time from 2000 and onward to tour deejaying for numerous artists, he returned to radio in 2007 and worked for 102.5 KSFM in Sacramento, California as a mix show DJ for the show Club 102 which aired from 12am-2am every weekend until 2009. In 2010, DJ Symphony became the program director for Radio Invasion 93.1FM a clear channel radio station. [3]

Tour DJ for the Gza of the Wu-Tang Clan

DJ Symphony with Raekwon DJ Symphony and Raekwon.jpg
DJ Symphony with Raekwon

In 2000, DJ Symphony was introduced to the Wu-Tang Clan through Raekwon. He started doing shows as Raekwon's tour DJ and in the years to come, he became official tour DJ for Gza of the Wu-Tang Clan, [4] the other DJs being DJ Mathematics, DJ Dice and DJ Saki. DJ Symphony has toured with members of the Wu-Tang Clan on both domestic and international tours. DJ Symphony was the official DJ for Raekwon from 2006 to 2013 and worked with Raekwon's label Ice H2O Records from 2006 to 2010. DJ Symphony also worked with Ghostface Killah on his Wu-Block Tour from 2010 to 2013. Since 2014, DJ Symphony has worked as the official tour DJ for GZA.

Educator

DJ Symphony has evolved from being a hip-hop practitioner to becoming a music teacher. His passion for education and hip-hop lead him to create the Symphony DJ Academy at the Solano Town Center in 2013 in Fairfield, California where he teaches deejaying, audio production, podcasting and radio arts. In 2017 he opened Scratch Course, an online DJ program.

Production credits

DJ Symphony started his professional production career in 2006 when he was signed with Raekwon's Ice H2O Records label. The label put out the song "Papito" with JD Era and opened up the door for DJ Symphony to produce for other celebrity artists. Listed below are some of the songs that DJ Symphony has produced, although the list is not exhaustive:

  1. All the way good - Capone (CNN) [5]
  2. Papito [6] - Ceazar and Reason featuring JD Era
  3. Heart of Fire - Raekwon [7]
  4. The Rock - Cappadonna [8]
  5. Live Your Fantasy - Portia Dee [9]
  6. The Water - Hanz On [10]
  7. W.A.R - Hanz On [10]
  8. Circle Back - B-Nasty
  9. Anti Mumble Rap featuring Sadat X & Ceazar
  10. Real Hip-Hop - Jeru the Damaja, Psycho Les & Sadat X

Discography

DJ Symphony's most notable mixtape series was created in 2010 The Certified Crack Mixtape Series with Raekwon. Overall, the Certified Crack Mixtape Series has had over 1 million downloads. [11] In total, there are 20 Mixtapes in circulation.

Singles
Mixtapes
Guest appearances

Movie scores

DJ Symphony helped create the movie score for the film Omerta (2012) [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu-Tang Clan</span> American hip hop collective

Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and Ol’ Dirty Bastard until his death in 2004. Close affiliate Cappadonna later became an official member. Wu-Tang Clan are regarded as one of the greatest and most influential groups in hip hop history, helping to popularize and develop the East Coast hip hop and hardcore hip hop styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U-God</span> American rapper

Lamont Jody Hawkins, better known by his stage name U-God, is an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He has been with the group since its inception, and is known for his deep voice and rhythmic flow that can alternate between gruff and smooth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raekwon</span> American rapper

Corey Woods, better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang , in 1993. Raekwon would subsequently pursue a solo career, releasing his first solo album, entitled Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..., in 1995. The album received critical acclaim, and is regarded by many critics as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time, as well as a staple of 1990s rap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghostface Killah</span> American rapper

Dennis David Coles, better known by his stage name Ghostface Killah, is an American rapper and a member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. After the group achieved breakthrough success in the aftermath of Enter the Wu-Tang , the members went on to pursue solo careers to varying levels of success. Ghostface Killah debuted his solo career with Ironman, which was well-received by music critics, in 1996. He has enjoyed continued success in the years that have followed, releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Supreme Clientele (2000) and Fishscale (2006). His stage name was taken from one of the characters in the 1979 kung fu film The Mystery of Chess Boxing. He is the founder of his own record label, Starks Enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inspectah Deck</span> American rapper and producer

Jason Richard Hunter, better known by his stage name Inspectah Deck, is an American rapper, producer, and actor. He is a member of the groups Wu-Tang Clan and Czarface.

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Walter Reed, better known by his stage name Killah Priest, is an American rapper, member of Sunz of Man and Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, Brooklyn. He is known for his intensely spiritual lyrics, containing religious references and metaphors. He is connected to the Black Hebrew Israelites through his rhymes, and is known for his controversial and political subject matter. He is also a part of supergroup the HRSMN along with Canibus, Ras Kass, and Kurupt.

Derrick Harris, better known by his stage name True Master, is an American hip-hop record producer and occasional rapper, known for his affiliation with the Wu-Tang Clan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathematics (producer)</span> Rap music producer

Ronald Maurice Bean, better known professionally as Mathematics, is a hip hop producer and DJ for the Wu-Tang Clan and its solo and affiliate projects. He designed the Wu-Tang Clan logo.

Marc Shemer,, better known by his stage name Scram Jones, is a producer, DJ and rapper from New Rochelle, New York. He has produced music for Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Styles P, Tragedy Khadafi, Jadakiss, Saigon, Dipset and Troy Ave. He has been featured in The Source magazine's "Unsigned Hype" column. Scram Jones is jewish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hanz On</span> American rapper

Anthony Messado, better known by the stage name Hanz On or Hannibal The Great, is an American rapper and an affiliate of the Wu-Tang Clan. He released his solo debut, Out Of Chef's Kitchen in 2010, and has since co-founded a record label called Hanz On Music. He is closely tied to another Wu-Tang Clan affiliate named Carlton Fisk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu-Tang Clan anthology</span>

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<i>A Better Tomorrow</i> (album) 2014 studio album by Wu-Tang Clan

A Better Tomorrow is the sixth studio album by American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan. The album was released on December 2, 2014, by Warner Bros. Records. The album was supported by the singles "Keep Watch", "Ron O'Neal" and "Ruckus in B Minor". A Better Tomorrow received generally mixed reviews from music critics. The album debuted at number 29 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 24,386 copies in its first week of release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RZA production discography</span>

The following list is a discography of production by American hip hop record producer and recording artist the RZA. It includes a list of songs produced, co-produced and remixed by year, artist, album and title.

<i>Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...</i> 1995 studio album by Raekwon

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... is the debut studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, released on August 1, 1995, by Loud Records and RCA Records. The album was loosely composed to play like a film with Raekwon as the "star", fellow Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah as the "guest-star", and producer RZA as the "director". It features appearances from every member of the Wu-Tang Clan. The album also features debut appearances from affiliates Cappadonna and Blue Raspberry, and an acclaimed guest appearance from rapper Nas, which marked the first collaboration with a non-affiliated artist on a Wu-Tang related album.

<i>Supreme Clientele</i> 2000 studio album by Ghostface Killah

Supreme Clientele is the second studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah, released on February 8, 2000, by Epic Records. The album showcases Ghostface's signature up-tempo, stream-of-consciousness rhyme style, and features guest appearances from Cappadonna, GZA, Masta Killa, Method Man, Raekwon, Redman, RZA, U-God, and others. It features affiliates of what would become members of Theodore Unit and T.M.F. Supreme Clientele contains a large amount of production from group member RZA, who also re-worked and remixed beats from other producers involved, as a means to create a unified and cohesive sound for the album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazarus (rapper)</span> American rapper

Kamran Rashid Khan, known professionally as Lazarus, is a Detroit-based American rapper, songwriter and physician of Pakistani descent. He is known for his singles "GODFLOW", "Break the Walls" and "Man on a Mission" along with his songs "Drug of Choice", "Open Heart Surgery", "Underdog", "MTBK" and "Decapitation Chamber" featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bizarre, Royce da 5'9", Bohemia and Ghostface Killah respectively.

The discography of DJ Symphony, an American hip hop disc jockey, consist of sixteen mixtapes.

"Wu Tang Forever" is a song by American rapper Logic, featured as the sixth track on his 2018 album YSIV. The song is a homage to the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan and features all living members of the group: Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, RZA, Method Man, Inspectah Deck, Cappadonna, U-God, Masta Killa and GZA, as well as Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Jackpot Scotty Wotty; deceased member Ol' Dirty Bastard received a writing credit. The song shares the same title as the group's second studio album.

References

  1. "Fotos de GZA de Wu Tang Clan en Chile". Agendamusical.cl.
  2. "From Poverty To Power Moves". Goodreads.com.
  3. "Home - Free Internet Radio - Radio Invasion". Radioinvasion.com.
  4. "HHV Exclusive: DJ Symphony talks history with Raekwon, Wu-Tang Clan, and Radio Invasion". Hip-hopvibe.com. 24 August 2012.
  5. "Capone - All The Way Good [prod. DJ Symphony]". HipHopDX. 16 May 2011.
  6. [ dead link ]
  7. "Heart of Fire". HipHopDX.
  8. "The Rock [ft. Cappadonna]". Soundcloud.com.
  9. "Portia Dee talks "Live Your Fantasy," DJ Symphony, and time on "Flavor of Love"". Thisis50.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-04. Retrieved 2017-10-23.
  10. 1 2 "Hanz On - Out Of Chef's Kitchen". Discogs. 16 March 2010.
  11. "DatPiff :: The Authority in Free Mixtapes". DatPiff.
  12. "Anti Mumble Rap (feat. Sadat X & Ceazar) - Single by Dj Symphony" via Apple Music.
  13. "DJ Symphony - Certified Crack: Vial 1". Discogs. 31 October 2010.
  14. "Release group "Certified Crack Vial 2" by DJ Symphony - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org.
  15. "Release group "Certified Crack: Memorial Weekend" by DJ Symphony - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org.
  16. "Dj Symphony - Messy Sheets Hosted by Dj Symphony". DatPiff.
  17. "DJ Symphony - Fight For The Carter: Wayne Vs Shawn". Discogs. 27 October 2011.
  18. "DJ Symphony – I Love Canada [Mixtape]". HipHopCanada.com. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  19. "DJ Symphony to announce record label and release date for "I Love America"". Hip=hopvibe.com. 10 June 2012.
  20. "DJ Symphony – Drake Vs. Common [Mixtape]". HipHopCanada.com. 14 January 2012. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  21. "Various Artists - I Am Trayvon Martin Hosted by Dj Symphony". DatPiff.
  22. "[MIXTAPE] MMG Vs YMCMB - Certified Crack". Thisis50.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2017-12-29.
  23. "Lil' Mo to host DJ Symphony's "The Best of Superwoman" mixtape, which drops on Hip Hop Vibe on Halloween Night". Hip-hopvibe.com. 26 September 2013.
  24. "Raekwon The Chef - The Columbian Necktie Hosted by Dj Symphony". DatPiff.
  25. "Dj Symphony/The Cartel - Dead Or Alive Hosted by Hosted By Dj Symphony". DatPiff.
  26. "Da Tykoon - Digital Money Hosted by Dj Symphony". DatPiff.
  27. "F4E Presents: The Vault Hosted By DJ Symphony by Nino Graye on Apple Music". iTunes . 5 November 2011.
  28. "Omerta". IMDb.com. 1 February 2011.