DJ Swamp

It’s a mixed blessing when Vanilla Ice immortalizes you in song. On “Too Cold,” an “Ice Ice Baby” metal makeover on the alarmingly Korny 1998 album Hard to Swallow, Vanilla bellows, Swamp plays on the fade, slice like a ninja/Cut like a razor blade/So fast, other DJs say, “Damn.” Damn, indeed. DJ Swamp took home turntablism’s top prize in 1996 as the DMC Champion and has collaborated with Beck, the Bloodhound Gang, Kool Keith and Crystal Method, among others. He’s also known for his own records, which create a horror-movie vibe with their creepy keyboards, spooky sound bites and jarring rhythmic assaults. Onstage, Swamp is half magician, half masochist. He juggles records and blows fire, occasionally injuring himself. He once vomited mid-gig (perhaps some flammable liquid went down the wrong pipe) without skipping a beat. But in keeping with old-fashioned rave tradition, dance-music fans will have to wait until the day of the show to learn where Swamp is spinning.