SAMPLINGS
CRANKDAT: RE-CRANKED
DJ TIMES
MARCH 2018
Vegas Bound: Crankdat just became a Sin City resident.
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Plenty of producers have initially emerged onto the electronic-music scene as remix wizards, but few talents in recent years have done it quite like Crankdat. The Ohio native—aka Christian Smith, 20—began putting his own spin on some of music’s hottest tracks, like Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen,” and calling each effort a “re-crank,” rather than your traditional remix or bootleg. Honing his craft with each release and working his magic on cuts from heavy-hitters like San Holo, Joyryde, Porter Robinson, Mija and Zeds Dead, his electric edits would soon become secret weapons amongst his peers. Receiving early support from JAUZ, following his debut production, “Dollars,” this promising talent would connect with the bass-house phenom for “I Hold Still” featuring Slushii. Opening 2018 with his DJ Times: When did your trademark “relatest original, “Reasons to cranks” come about? Run,” and currently closCrankdat: I think it started in 2016 when I ing out his North Ameri- was making a ton of remixes in the summer. I can “Outcast” tour, DJ Times wanted to add a bit of flavor to the name. Everycaught up with the melodic one was making a remix, but only Crankdat was mastermind. making a “re-crank.” I feel like I started something there. I watched some other people create their own specialized labels, too, which was kind of cool. DJ Times: Is there anything specific you look for when deciding on reworking a track? Crankdat: It totally depends. There are a lot of things I keep in mind when picking a track. When I started, I reworked pretty much anything I liked and thought of, but now it’s a little more particular. I’ll ask myself, “Is this a song that people want to hear remixed?” In my opinion, not everything should have a remix. Or I ask, “Is this something I can dodge the copyright strikes on?” So yes, there are specifics, but a lot of the time it’s situational. DJ Times: After building a name with all those remixes, where you nervous about releasing original work? Crankdat: I don’t think nerves ever really came into it; it was more so a commitment deal. Knowing that I’m only going to release a “first solo original” once, I wanted to make sure that it’s good and means something to me. I also wanted to make sure my skillset lined up. Taking a tune and flipping it takes one set of skills, writing an original tune takes another. It was something I had to work on, and that takes time. DJ Times: You recently joined forces with JAUZ and Slushii – who else are you interested in collaborating with? (continued on page 40)
