Dj Werd began his professional Dj career in his hometown of San Jose, California. In 1996 he established the Curbside Radio Show on KSCU 103.3fm. The radio show acted as a forum for local independent artists to showcase their skills and reach out to larger audiences. With such artists as, Prince Paul, The Gravediggaz, Lateef, Lyrics Born (Quannum), Alkaholiks, X-men, Company Flow, and many others, the Curbside show caught the attention of ABB Records’ Benni B. In 1997 Werd joined Benni B’s “Bay Area Hip Hop Coalition” (record pool and networking group for the most innovative Djs in the bay area).
Recording and releasing several mixtapes featuring many Californian underground rappers and producers, including his San Francisco based crew Audio Pharmacy, Werd decided to tour Europe in 1998. The very next year he moved to Berlin, Germany to expand his musical and personal horizons. There he met Dj Hype and was initiated as the newest member of the legendary turntablist crew “The Phaderheadz”. Through countless showcases, parties and battles, Werd quickly earned the respect of the German hip hop community.
Impressed by his live Dj skills, Berlin rappers Sido and B-Tight (Die Sekte, Aggro Berlin) convinced Werd to be their Dj. After the addition of Werd to the group, they immediately climbed to the top of the German rap scene and pop charts. With the Aggro artists, Werd constantly recorded scratches in the studio and showcased his Dj skills at hundreds of shows, festivals and jams throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Hungary making him one of the busiest hip hop Djs in the game. The label Aggro Berlin is now the single most successful independent label in Germany.
Aside from all this, Werd has recently released his first full length LP under the project name Long Lost Relative. Floating somewhere between down tempo and hip hop, the LP “Twilight” brought together the talents of several artists from San Francisco, New York City, Vienna and Berlin, and was released by the Viennese label “Goal Getter”. In 2005 Long Lost Relative toured Europe with the legendary Diggable Planets, giving Werd the opportunity to play for thousands of open-minded fans in seven different countries.
A jack-of-all-trades? Or simply a hip hop Renaissance man? One thing is clear. Dj Werd is a versatile, skilled and accomplished member of the World Hip Hop community. As a Dj, producer, musician and even rapper, he understands and loves this culture with all of its infinite faces.
