A-Trak

Canadian producer and DJ A-Trak had already performed at competitions, clubs, and festivals across Australia, Japan, South Africa, and Norway by the time he turned 18. At 15 he became the youngest competitor ever to claim a world title, the first to sweep the International Turntablist Federation, Disco Mix Club, and Vestax World Extravaganza crowns, and the first to accumulate five such victories, all before his eighteenth birthday. Within just a few years the turntablist prodigy had established himself as an innovator inside hip-hop’s competitive subculture. His profile rose further when Kanye West selected him as personal touring DJ in the early 2000s, an association that placed him on West’s Late Registration. Interviews in hip-hop publications and on MTV during that period reintroduced the nearly forgotten craft to a broad audience. Throughout the 2010s he collaborated across multiple styles, launched the Fool’s Gold imprint, and paired with Armand Van Helden in the Grammy-nominated duo Duck Sauce. Releases and joint projects extended into the 2020s, when he also formed the Brothers Macklovitch project with his older brother Dave 1; additional albums arrived with Cam’ron on U Wasn't There and with Ric Wilson and Chromeo on Clusterfunk.

Born in Montreal as Alain Macklovitch, he first experimented with scratching on his father’s turntable at age 13. He soon acquired dedicated equipment and taught himself the technique. In 1995 he joined his older brother David Macklovitch—later known as Dave 1 and a founding member of the 2003 synth-pop duo Chromeo—along with school friends to create the Montreal rap group Obscure Disorder. The siblings started the Audio Research label, which issued the group’s debut single “Lyrically Exposed” via Fat Beats Records in 1997, helping introduce Canadian hip-hop to the expanding American independent market. That same year A-Trak launched his competitive career by winning the DMC World Championship in Italy, then added ITF, Vestax World, and DMC Team World titles in 1999 and 2000. Although DJ Q-Bert extended an invitation to the Invisbl Skratch Piklz after his initial victory, A-Trak admired DJ Craze, who had defeated him at the 1998 DMC finals; the two formed the Allies collective in 1999.

At 18, A-Trak stepped away from competition to concentrate on original music and the Audio Research label. He contributed to projects by Non Phixion and Peanut Butter Wolf while also issuing Allies material such as the 2004 battle tool Monkeyboy Breaks. His trajectory shifted in May 2004 after Kanye West saw him perform in a London record shop and immediately hired him for the North American tour that later reached Europe and Asia. In addition to touring duties, A-Trak supplied scratches for several G.O.O.D. Music releases, including Common’s Be and West’s Late Registration. He assembled archival battle and performance footage into the autobiographical DVD Sunglasses Is a Must, issued in March 2006 ahead of a planned solo album.

The following year he returned with the genre-blending remix collection Dirty South Dance and produced tracks for Kid Sister. In 2008 Nike commissioned him for its Nike+ series, resulting in the album Running Man timed to the Human Race event. The year 2009 brought Fabriclive.45 and the formation of Duck Sauce with Armand Van Helden; the duo scored global success with the Grammy-nominated single “Barbra Streisand.” His remix of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll” also became one of his most widely recognized mainstream works. Additional remixes followed for MSTRKRFT, Justice, and the Rapture, alongside guest appearances on albums by Drake and Kid Cudi.

Duck Sauce joined the revived Casablanca label for the 2013 EP Radio Stereo, while A-Trak linked with Cam’ron for the 2014 EP Federal Reserve. In 2015 he worked with Disclosure and ZHU, released the Push EP featuring remixes by the Chainsmokers and Cazzette, and issued the We All Fall Down EP with Jamie Lidell. The 2016 singles and remixes included “Parallel Lines” with Phantogram and “Lose My Mind” with Tommy Trash. In 2017 he enlisted Quavo and Lil Yachty for “Believe,” followed in 2018 by “Ride for Me” featuring Young Thug and 24hrs, and in 2019 by “Work It Out.”

Entering the new decade he maintained Duck Sauce while launching the Brothers Macklovitch partnership with Dave 1, which debuted with the singles “Give Love to Get Some” and “I Can Call You.” In 2021 he issued three style-specific EPs—House Crate, Rap Crate, and Bangers Crate—then followed with 10 Seconds, Vol. 1 and 2 the next year. Duck Sauce delivered Put the Sauce on It, and he reunited with Cam’ron for U Wasn't There. Clusterfunk, a joint project with Chromeo and Ric Wilson, appeared in 2023.