TYGAPAW is the work of Dion McKenzie, a multi-disciplined artist based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Born and raised in Jamaica, McKenzie leans on her Caribbean ancestry to create high energy, relentless club rhythms, shared through labels like New York’s Sweat Equity and their own Fake Accent. In November last year, they debuted on the esteemed N.A.A.F.I label with GET FREE, their first solo album. Across 11 tracks, McKenzie employed techno landscapes to explore the idea of personal freedom.

When McKenzie moved to New York from Mandeville, Jamaica in 2002 to attend Parsons School of Design, they didn’t intend to become so deeply entrenched in the city’s musical community. But their experience in two projects, namely a band named My M.O. and a rap duo called Kowabunga Tyga, appealed to them, and as they began to crave more creative control, they decided to familiarize themselves with Ableton.

As their skills developed, McKenzie began to make their own edits and then their own originals, and they wanted somewhere to play them out. As a black, queer female, they often found themselves dismissed and so they started Fake Accent, a monthly party inspired by their challenges as a queer Jamaican immigrant living in New York. Beyond the music that’s played, which spans dancehall, reggae, and ballroom, it’s a platform to promote queer and trans artists of color. In 2019, Fake Accent also became a label.

Fast forward to today, and McKenzie is recognized as a fearless and versatile DJ-producer, and an integral part of New York’s bubbling queer nightlife community. Speaking broadly, their DJ sets fuse dancehall’s raw energy with R&B motifs and pop ballads, and their XLR8R podcast is no different. There are some tracks you might know, but it’s also brimming with white-labels, Soundcloud rips, and edits of classics like Daft Punk and Moby. Listen carefully because you’ll probably never hear them again.

01. What have you been up to recently?

What I’ve been up to is trying to survive while being a Black artist in America during a pandemic. Surviving the hunger games basically. All while having to do a ton of mixes without pay!

02. How was your 2020 as you look back?

Definitely the same answer as the first question, but I also made my debut album while surviving in America during a pandemic.

03. What artists and or labels have pricked your ears recently?

In terms of artists, Russell E. L. Butler is amazing. Embaci, SUUTOO, Ase Manual, and FXWRK. In terms of labels, Mister Saturday Night, and my label, Fake Accent, because I can’t seem to find any other labels owned by black queer, trans, and non-binary people! Please enlighten me if there are?

04. What are your earliest memories of electronic music?

Black Box, I think, but I just took it as pop music because that’s how it was packaged at the time. Granted this is when I was growing up in Jamaica in the ’90s. Nine Inch Nails might’ve been that turning point for me, when I first heard “Closer,” then “The Perfect Drug.” Definitely with “The Perfect Drug” I was hooked on the faster tempo and the way the breaks create so much movement in the track.

05. Where and when did you record this mix?

My home studio in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on January 11, 2021.

06. How did you go about choosing the tracks that you’ve included?

I did it the same way I prepare for all my DJ sets: I try to figure out what mood I’m in. I realize the way I pull tracks is by harmonic mixing, and I do it on a sub-conscious level, and so it really makes mixing the tracks together very enjoyable for me. I choose tracks based on whether they are in the right key, tone, and energy level to tell the story I feel like telling in the mix. In a nutshell, I choose tracks based on my blending style!

07. What can the listener expect?

Good vibes.

08. How does it compare to what we’d hear you play in a club?

I really keep the same energy across the board, but I definitely go a lot harder in a club setting if I feel the audience is up for the spiral.

09. What are your ambitions for 2021?

To get paid $40,000 for a virtual DJ set. That would be quite revolutionary actually. It would be quite revolutionary to get paid $40,000 for my art and labor even. Imagine that!

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. FXWRK “Come Back” (Unknown)
02. Cody Wong “The Ryhme” (Unknown)
03. LADRIN “What They Want” (Unknown)
04. SeanC “Moby Ruined” (Unknown)
05. jxck “Heavy On Ya Hip” (Reboot Records IRE)
06. blk “MFN Breakbeat” (Real Rotation Recordings)
07. X CLUB “Air Max 9000” (X CLUB)
08. Dean Casey “Pinged Pt. 1” (1229254 Records)
09. DJ PayPal “Come Back” (Unknown)
10. Peder Mannerfelt “Small Faces” (Sneaker Social Club)
11. Amal “Pyschopass” (HAUS of ALTR)
12. FFF & Tim Reaper “World Championships” (Future Retro London)
13. TRAX HAVEN “Rhymes” (Dom Peri Peri Edit) (TRAX HAVEN)
14. TRAX HAVEN “Rhythm n Gash” (Samurai Breaks Bootleg) (TRAX HAVEN)
15. Forest Drive West “Turtle Break” (Rupture London)
16. Digital “Robber VIP” (RuptureLDN)
17. Mr Sensi, Tim Reaper “Lost City” (Future Retro London)
18. Forest Drive West “Jungle Crack vs mich.” (420 W PADDY & NELLY) [TYGAPAW blend] (Unknown)