Just Blaze Gearing Up to Release 12-Inch House Record

One of the lesser-known aspects of Just Blaze's career as a hip-hop producer and music tastemaker is that he is also a whiz on the turntables. Part of DJing is being up on all sorts of music and Just has always had a special love of house music as well as hip-hop. After a high profile return to clubs -- including a takeover of Friday nights at New York City's Santos Party House -- the super-producer has announced his first dance music 12'' record is on the way.

"One of the coolest things that I'm about to do is release a house record through Fools Gold with A-Trak," said Just Blaze to The BoomBox. "You know, I'm a student of music and a DJ at heart. I play all different types of records. I've grown up on all different types of records and music, and one thing that always surprises people is when I got into these house, electro and old school DJ sets. There was a point when I stopped doing hip-hop and was just DJing dance music in the early 90s. That side has always been there."

The big moment with A-Trak came during the Fools Gold holiday party where Just Blaze was DJing. He dropped some of his classic hip-hop joints and then went into a bizarrely awesome house set. One of the last records he played was a secret dance record that he'd been storing on his laptop for months. All the DJs in the house went nuts and now that track and one other will appear on Just's first foray into officially released dance music.

"Right now, it's gonna be a 12''," he explained. "I actually have an A-side and B-side in mind. Hopefully, I can get them both finished in time. It'll probably be done within the next 2-3 weeks. Time and schedule permitted, I'd love to take it a step forward and do, if not an album, a nice EP at least."

So, there you go. Just Blaze is going to blow-up dance floors in any way possible. This is a good development.