Ghetto Division DJ and producer Rampage pretty much sums up the squad’s modus operandi with the title track of this EP: throw it all together and see if it works. Some sections of the tune are chilly dubstep, heavy on the style’s signature wobbling bass, and here and there the beat doubles up for an explosive transition into ravey jock-jam synth stabs—but then, instead of following through on that setup and segueing into what the Flosstradamus guys call “power house,” the song drops in a throbbing hip-hop beat at half the tempo of the four-on-the-floor thump you’d expect. “Southside Anthem” is Rampage’s take on juke, spiced with vocal samples and staccato synth horns, both of which get chopped up more and more finely until the whole thing melts down into a sampler-crashing blur. Three of the seven tracks are remixes, and two of those are by Mancunian production duo Heavyfeet—including a hard drum ’n’ bass version of “War” that could’ve ended up on a Metalheadz comp if it’d been released a dozen years ago.
Nightshifters come back with a storming new Ep by Chicago’s own Rampage! Part of the Ghetto Division crew along side Rob Threezy, Charlie Glitch and MaddJazz, Rampage is out for blood with this second ep: War. Whether he’s taking on dubstep, putting a Bmore update on house, or making a stop at the rave, he’s always bringing new sounds to the party!
The Ep starts with the hybrid title track “War”, a rollercoaster of a tune swerving between rave and moody dubstep but over a skeleton of urban claps and kicks. “Loving You Is Easy” builds on the emerging house-Bmore style Rampage and his crew are known for, while “GTFO” is a stomper with thunderous synths and sampled shouts. “Southside Anthem” brings it all back to the neighborhood with Bmore trumpets and enough bass to shake the L Train.
We got some badass remixes too. The Italian duo Blatta & Inesha turn “War” into a galloping kuduro-fueled, rave-siren wailing beast of a track. While Manchester’s HeavyFeet drop 2 remixes- They add a bit more P.L.U.R to “Loving you…” and then push “War” over the brink with a full-on Drum and Bass remix! Whoa! Didn’t see that coming, eh?
1. Who is RAMPAGE? Rampage is one person, Eddie is my real name. I am a DJ/producer/remixer from the southside of Chicago.
2. What are some of your influences? What was your first musical memory? Some of my influences include lots of old Chicago house, ghetto house, anything with lots of bass, 90s rave techno, video games from Sega and Nintendo and many old horror films. My first musical memory would be hearing my family listen to lots of different music from disco to R&B to salsa to oldies to freestyle to house and so on. That’s what basically made me love music.
3. How you describe your music/DJ-style? Explain your production process. My music is basically what I like to listen to and I don’t try to stay in one certain genre. What I mostly play in my DJ sets are tracks that me and my boys from ghetto division produce or remix. I also tend to play around 130 bpm and mix all types of house and underground dance music. I’ll even play sets at slower bpms like disco and reggae and also fast bpms like juke and bassline/dubstep. My production process is basically all software at the moment from a pretty cheap pc haha. I use Reason & Recycle for producing/remixing and Cool Edit Pro/Acid Pro/Sound Forge for my mixtapes.
4. How does it feel to be part of the Chicago dance scene, such a prolific and important city to dance music? Any big Chicago acts that you feel are gonna put Chicago back on the map? Chicago is a great city and I love it. We have so much culture and great music but I feel we need more unity in having massive events like we did in the 90s. We need more underground dance music to be played on the radio and at mainstream clubs. I’m tired of hearing crappy pop/rap music everywhere. We’re a house music city and we need to keep it like that. There’s a lot of hidden talent in Chicago and I think Ghetto Division is definitely part of that. Maddjazz, Rob Threezy, Charlie Glitch, Moonman & D-51 are not only good friends of mine but have so much talent and the world needs to know it. A few others that are making some noise from Chicago are Flosstradamus, Black Holes, Potty mouth, Movement music, Content, DJ Bam Bam, Willy Joy, Starter Djs, Fat Kids, SixPoint DJs and Gant-man just to name a few.
5. What are you top 5 dance tracks? 1: Kano – I’m Ready 2: Dbx – Phreak 3: High Powered Boys – Hoes Get Down 4: Paul Johnson – Feel my MF Bass 5: Pineapples – Come on Closer
6. Future plans for RAMPAGE? New Tracks? Releases? Tours? Collabs? I have lots of remixes that are out and also coming out soon.
Plastique De Reve - Resist (Rampage Remix) (Supersoul Recordings)
GTRONIC - Iron Man (Rampage Remix) (Live-In Music UK)
Spin Laden - Whip Dat (Rampage Remix) (Content Recordings)
FutureFlashs - Old Skool (Rampage Remix) (Idiot House)
Jose 2 Hype - Soundboi Killa (Rampage Remix) (2 Hype) Mic Terror – Juke Dem Hoes (Rampage Remix) (Hot Dog 002) The Allstars – I Got Cash (Rampage Remix) (Texture Recordings)
A new ep on Nightshifters entitled “WAR” e.p. that’s out end of June. Also a new Ghetto Division E.p. and gigs coming up in Canada this August & Europe in the fall. And also we plan to do a Ghetto DivisionUSA tour by the end of the year.
Tracklist: 000: Intro 001: Ursula 1000 – Zombies (Hijack Remix) 002: Chelly – Took the Night (Detboi Remix) 003: Harvard Bass – 81 (Renaissance Man Remix) 004: Marco Houle - Manager 005: D-51 – Midnight Alcoholics 006: All Leather – I Don’t Hate Fags, God Does (Congorock Remix) 007: Hijack - High Jackin’ (Herve’s Fuck Fuck Remix) 008: John Acquaviva & Lutzenkirchen – Zombie 009: Rob Threezy – You Bad (DJ Sega Remix) 010: DJ Deeon - Telefon Luv 011: Digital Domain – I Need Relief 012: DJ Deeon – Southside 013: Paul Johnson – Feel My MF Bass 014: Ac Slater – Rock It Out 015: High Powered Boys – Hoes Get Down 016: Paul Johnson – Get Get Down 017: Ac Slater – Jack Got Jacked (Jack Beats Remix) 018: Steve Silk Hurley – Jack Your Body 019: JM Silk – Jack Your Body 020: Lady Sovereign – Got U Dancing (Jack Beats Remix) 021: Sugar Hill Gang – Apache (break) 022: Major Lazer ft. Santigold & Mr. Lexxx – Hold the Line 023: Rico Tubbs – Boom Riddim (Sharkslayer Remix) 024: 3rd Face - Canto Della Liberta (Kink Remix) 025: Dance Area – AA/247 026: Jodeci – Freak You 027: Knowlten Walsh – Animal (B.Rich Remix) 028: Steve Angello & Laidback Luke – Show Me Love (Afrojack Remix) 029: M.A.W. ft India – When You Touch Me 030: Rampage – Loving U Is Easy (Heavy Feet Remix) 031: Rekid – Next Stop Chicago (Jesse Rose Remix) 032: ??? - MF House 033: Rodriguez Jr – Pina Colada 034: The Juan Maclean – One Day (Surkin Remix) 035: Lyn Collins – Think (break) 036: Diamond K – Bad Sista (break) 037: M.C. Magic – Everybody 038: 2 Bad Mice – Bombscare ‘94 039: La Roux – In For the Kill (Hostage Remix)
Asian Dan Exclusive DJ Rampage Minimix + Interview:
"One thing that I really love about the Ghetto Division dudes is how obviously music obsessed they are. Even though they had four members out manning the decks last night, I don't think I saw one of them leave the DJ booth the whole time I was there"
