DJ Rush

DJ Rush
DJ Rush performing in a German club in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Isaiah Major
Also known as	Major Rush, Russian Roulette, Drum Major
Born	(1970-01-09) January 9, 1970 (age 54) Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres	Techno, hard techno, house, disco
Occupation(s)	DJ, musician, singer, record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, turntable, keyboards
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Kne'Deep, Trax Records|Trax, Force Inc. Music Works, Omnisounds, Pro-Jex, Saber Records|Saber, Dance Mania (record label)|Dance Mania, Relief Records|Relief, Cosmic Records|Cosmic, Circuit Records, Djax-Up-Beats, Mental Groove Records, V-Records Berlin, High Octane Recordings, Basic Beat Recordings, Predicaments, Session Recordings, Utils (record label)|Utils, Modular Music Channel, Terminal M, Hörspielmusik, T:Classixx, Pounding Grooves Remixed, INEX Music Works, Highball Music, Jackstar Recordings, Beatdisaster Records, Bitshift Music, Equator (record label)|Equator, Combat Skill, Cause Records, Truth Tracks, BEK Audio
Website	djrush.net

Isaiah Major (born January 9, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois, United States) best known as DJ Rush, is an American musician, DJ and record producer of electronic music, who was active in the early Chicago House scene.

Isaiah Major^[1] was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, growing up on the south side of the city and DJing from an early age.^[2] Isaiah finished his degree in Computer Operations, Anger Management and won several first-place awards in Art competitions.^{[citation needed]}

In the growing House scene of Chicago, DJ Rush quickly rose to prominence in the electronic music genre. He made his first appearances as a DJ in the Chicago clubs Music Box, the Powerhouse and the Warehouse where he played his sets for up to ten hours.^[3] He also began producing. In 1989 he began running a party called Gaucho out of a friends garage. Gaucho became one of the cities most popular parties in the House scene, birthing dance crew battles at house parties across the city.^[2]

In 1991 DJ Rush released his first single ("Knee Deep") on the label Trax Records.^[4] He began to gain ground in London and Berlin. In 1996 he moved to Berlin, becoming part of the progressive and creative techno scene that had gathered momentum after the fall of the Berlin Wall.^[2]

In 1998 DJ Rush successfully had a Europe-wide breakthrough with the record "Motherfucking Bass". It was widely regarded as one of the "club hymns" of that year.^[3] Following this success he teamed up with Tina Panitzke to start the booking agency and record label Kne'Deep in Berlin.^[5] In 2001 he displaced Jeff Mills as the Reader's Choice for most popular DJ in Groove-Magazine (a German magazine for electronic music released since 1989).^[3]

DJ Rush began performing in Portugal in the late 1990s. After travelling there regularly for work he fell in love with it, leaving Berlin to move to the Algarve in around 2016.^[2][6]

His production style over time embraced a harder more minimal style, placing him within the genre of hard techno, however DJ Rush has referred to his musical style as 'Hard Energy', first firmly rooted in house music and now combining elements of many genres including jazz, disco and soul.^[4] He sometimes DJ's and MC's simultaneously as a unique way to entertain the crowd. DJ Rush is known for his unique sense of style- being 6' 6" (1.98 m) tall and often performing in platforms and extravagant costumes, citing Grace Jones and Missy Elliott amongst his inspirations.^[2]

DJ Rush is a well-known DJ in the European techno scene, having played in Techno BAM (Barcelona), Barcelona de Noche (Barcelona), Sala del Cel (Girona), Rachdingue (Vilajuïga), I Love Techno (Ghent), Tresor (Berlin), Love Parade (Berlin), Palazzo (Bingen), Dolnov (Lukavac, BiH), La Real (Oviedo), Florida 135 (Fraga), Hafentunnel (Erfurt), Awakenings (Amsterdam), Tomorrowland (Boom) and Sziget Fesztivál (Budapest).^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]} He continues to perform internationally.^[6]

• DJ Rush's official website