DJ Sneak began listening to house music soon after he and his family arrived from Puerto Rico in the early 1980s. Because he could not speak English, Sneak gravitated to instrumental music (as well as graffiti art), and became inspired by Chicago legends such as Marshall Jefferson and DJ Pierre.
Many of those early innovators had left Chicago for the East Coast by the late 80s, when Sneak was ready to start in the business; by 1992, however, Cajmere had begun a resurgence in the city’s classic sound by starting up Cajual Records. Sneak aided in the revolution with a series of singles on Cajual’s sister label, the harder-oriented Relief Records, as well as putting out singles on the renowned Cajual imprint, setting the stage for a filtered disco house movement to come in the latter half of the 90s with singles such as “The Moondoggy Ep” and “Sneak Essentials.”
Besides other productions for Strictly Rhythm, Henry St., ZYX, 83 West and Feverpitch (several of which feature Armand Van Helden on co-production, building on the Latin vibes of their heritage), DJ Sneak has also released mix compilations including 1996’s Kinky Trax Collection and the following year’s Buggin’ Da Beats. He continued to release tracks through the 90s and into the 2000s, scoring a worldwide smash with the single “Fix My Sink” produced with DJ Bear Who.He eventually started his own label, Magnetic Recordings, and moved to Toronto, Canada, where he operated a DJ booking agency called All World Entertainment. He continues to travel all over the planet as an in demand DJ and is considered one of the top producers and remixers in dance music today.
Lyrics by DJ Sneak are featured in the Daft Punk song “Digital Love” from their 2001 album Discovery.
